Chicago Cubs ride Kyle Hendricks final spring start to a 6-3 win over Houston

The Chicago Cubs’ Kyle Hendricks looked to be in mid-season form in his final tune-up of the spring. He blanked the Astros over five innings as the Cubs beat Houston 6-3 in their Spring Training finale.

If you have any questions about the Chicago Cubs‘ Kyle Hendricks ability to replicate or improve on his 2016 season, just stop it. Stop. Hendricks continues to erase any doubt as the Cubs rode his strong start in beating the Houston Astros, 6-3 on Friday afternoon.

The Cubs (13-18) used a big fifth inning, using just three singles as they pushed across four runs to take an early lead. Miguel Montero and Jon Jay singled to start the inning before using two walks and a wild pitch to start the “rally”. A Chesny Young single would bring home Tommy La Stella and Matt Szczur to put the Cubs up 4-0.

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The Astros (15-15) battled back in the sixth inning using RBI singles from Reid Brignac and Yulieski Gurriel. The two runs came off of David Rollins, who had been pitching well throughout the spring.

The Cubs score twice more to pace themselves to the 6-3 win. But it was Hendricks that was impressive once again. Hendricks improved to 2-0 on the spring, lowering his ERA to a 1.66. With the anticipated departure of Jake Arrieta following this year, it’s a welcome site to see Hendricks continue his progression as a pitcher.

With the spring over, the Cubs will turn their attention to the Sunday Night opener against their rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals. Jon Lester will face off against the Cards Carlos Martinez as they open up their title defense in St. Louis. We’ll have tons of coverage for you leading up to the game. In-depth looks at the starting pitchers, a history of the Cubs and Cardinals rivalry and more as we inch closer to Opening Day.