The Chicago Cubs entered the afternoon with a 2-1 series advantage over the Los Angeles Dodgers and Kyle Hendricks on the mound. Hendricks turned in a fantastic performance, picking up his fourth win as the Cubbies claimed yet another series.
It was a gorgeous day at the ballpark with thousands of Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers (28-27) fans in attendance for this series finale battle. While Hendricks was dealing on the mound, his offense backed him up with four home runs in the 7-2 victory over the Dodgers.
Hendricks (4-4, 2.84 ERA) surrendered two earned runs on three hits, one home run, one walk and six strikeouts through eight innings of work today. The 26-year-old right-hander could have pitched his third career complete game if his spot in the lineup hadn’t come up in the eighth inning.
Former Chicago White Sox outfielder and brother of Golden State Warriors superstar, Klay Thompson, Trayce Thompson, was the man who took Hendricks deep.
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Klay’s little brother pulled the trigger on a fourth pitch sinker and sent it out to left-center field for his eighth home run of the year.
Still, Hendricks had himself a three-run lead. Javier Baez, who ended the afternoon 2-for-4 at the dish, singled in the second and launched a two-run homer in the fourth.
It was his third big fly of the season that made it 4-0 at the time. With Julio Urias still on the mound, right fielder Jason Heyward connected for his first home run at Wrigley Field in a Cubs (37-15) uniform
Urias (0-1, 9.39 ERA) picked up his second big league start in a week and was handed his first loss as a professional pitcher. Chicago tagged him for five earned runs on eight hits, one walk, four strikeouts and of course, three home runs.
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As soon as Heyward entered the dugout to celebrate with the rest of his teammates, Kris Bryant launched the first pitch of his at-bat and nailed the giant video board in left-center field for his 13th homer of the year.
Rizzo, who leads the National League in voting, swatted his 12th dinger of the year later on in the eighth inning. This year’s All-Star game will more than likely feature an all Cubs infield.