Chicago Cubs’ Hendricks looks to keep home dominance rolling

The Chicago Cubs’ Kyle Hendricks looks to improve upon his 8-1 home record and look for his third-straight victory as they face the Cardinals for some day baseball at Wrigley Field.

It’s realistically possible the Chicago Cubs (73-41) could provide this year’s Cy Young Award Winner again. The question is who will it be? The season that Kyle Hendricks (11-7, 2.17) has had may come as a surprise to some, but not to all. Okay, I said he’d be the best in the second half, but he’s exceeding my expectations by leaps and bounds. The Cardinals (60-56) will send Luke Weaver to the mound making his MLB debut.

The perfect start to the month of August has been fueled by the pitching staff, but the offense did their part yesterday. After an extra-inning game the night before, Joe Maddon treated it like a “getaway” day by resting several of the starters. The replacements stepped right up, including Matt Szczcur who hit two home runs and added a double to his afternoon. 

Hendricks home ERA of 1.19 this season is the best in the league, but the Cardinals have had success against him this year. In five games, their slash line of .315/.357/.598 can’t be ignored, but Hendricks has been an entirely different pitcher as of late. Often times criticized for his inability to not go deeper into games, his last two starts have been a complete game shutout and 7 1/3 innings of one-run baseball.

The Cubs will see the lineup return “to normal”, with a few shifts of personnel. Ben Zobrist will slide out to left field while Javier Baez will play second base. Willson Contreras will be back behind the plate.

The Cardinals are rumored to be interested in Carlos Gomez who wasn’t recently DFA by the Houston Astros. The former All-Star has fallen on hard times, but the loss of Matt Holliday puts the Cards in a tough spot. They are just about eliminated from the division race, and will need to fight for a chance at the NL Wild Card.

Here are the lineups for today’s action:

First pitch is scheduled for 1:20 p.m. CT at Wrigley Field. ABC 7 will have the television coverage while 670 The Score will have the radio broadcast. Be sure to check back during the game for more Cubs news as well as after for post game coverage.