Chicago Cubs’ Kyle Hendricks looks to finish off sweep of Jays

The Chicago Cubs will go for the sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays as Kyle Hendricks takes the mound. He’ll have a new batterymate as Rene Rivera makes his Cubs debut.

The Chicago Cubs‘ Kyle Hendricks looks to finish off the sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays, and he’ll have an unfamiliar face behind the plate to do so. The Cubs made a few roster moves today, with Rene Rivera‘s addition being one of them. The Cubs also sent down Victor Caratini and LHP Rob Zastryzny while activating Koji Uehara from the DL.

The Cubs (65-57) have gotten strong pitching from their starters, and hope Hendricks (4-4, 3.45) can continue that trend. Hendricks pitched six innings of shutout baseball in his last start against the Reds and has posted a 2.00 in his last five starts.

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The Blue Jays (59-64) will look to Marco Estrada (5-8, 5.09) to prevent the sweep. After being consistent in his four starts prior, Estrada allowed six runs in 4 1/3 innings–his shortest outing since June 30. He’ll look for some support from a lineup that hasn’t seen too much of Hendricks.

The Cubs’ Joe Maddon is giving the day off to Kris Bryant and Jason Heyward to take advantage of the off-day tomorrow. Albert Almora and Tommy La Stella, as well as Rivera, will get the start today.  Here’s a look at the lineups for today’s series finale.

Starting Lineups

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The Cubs will have an off day tomorrow before heading to Cincinnati to face the Reds at 6:10 p.m. CT on Tuesday. John Lackey (10-6, 4.67) will face Homer Bailey (4-6, 8.44) in the series opener at Great American Ballpark.