#PoetryInMotion Kyle Hendricks picked up his 7th win of the season
The crowd started chanting "SWEEP SWEEP SWEEP" in the top of 9 as Carl Edwards Jr. was in the midst of mowing down Cardinals catcher Andrew Knizner. The sweep was in full effect as the Cubs got rid of the birds 5-1 and finished the 7 game home stand with a 6-1 record. This was "The Big Payback" as St. Louis brought out the broom in a 3 game sweep over Chicago the previous weekend at Busch Stadium.
FINAL SCORE- Cubs 5 STL 1
SUMMARY- The Cubs struck first in the bottom of 1 as #BamBam Kyle Schwarber scored on a #BigFolks Anthony Rizzo ground out to give the Cubs a 1-0 lead. The Cardinals got that run right back in the top of 2 after an E5 by #TheNatural Kris Bryant on a Marcel Ozuna ground ball which allowed Ozuna to reach 2nd base. Kolten Wong's RBI double scored Ozuna and tied the game at 1. Chicago hollered back in the bottom of 5 as a #NewMoney David Bote RBI single scored #JHey Jason Heyward & a Schwarber RBI double (he extended his hit streak to 7 games) brought Bote home to make it 3-1. The Cubs tacked on one more in the bottom of 7 as Schwarbs got his 2nd RBI of the game on a single that scored #ALJr Albert Almora. They added a bit of insurance in the bottom of 8 as #CarGO Carlos Gonzalez hit his first bomb in Cubbie blue to give the Cubs a 5-1 lead.
The Cardinals threatened in the top of 6 with runners on 1st & 3rd & 0 outs. Rizzo threw Paul Goldschmidt out at the plate on a Dexter Fowler ground ball, Wong popped out to Heyward & #PoetryInMotion Kyle Hendricks made a great one handed play to get Harrison Bader at first to end the inning
Hendricks improved to 7-4 on the year as he pitched 7 innings scattering 8 hits giving up 1 run walking NONE & striking out 3 on 98 pitches...68 for strikes. "I wasn't super sharp but Willson's pitch selection was really good. I attacked better later in the game & used my changeup more," Hendricks said.
Cubs manager Joe Maddon thought otherwise. "Almost a perfect performance. A couple of pitches he'd rather have back but otherwise a masterful performance. He's a complete player. How about those bunts." (Hendricks had 2 sacrifice bunts-one led to an RBI single by Bote)
Schwarber led the offense going 2-4 with 2 RBI. He was 4-7 with 1 HR & 4 RBI in 2 games this series. "Schwarbs has made some beautiful adjustments...this is about as good as I've seen him," Maddon said.
Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright fell to 5-6 on the season & left the game in the bottom of 5 with left hamstring tightness.
The Cubs take their show on the road for a 7 game road trip starting Monday with a 3 game set in Colorado against the Rockies and 4 in L.A. versus the Dodgers.
PLAYER(S) OF THE GAME- Kyle Hendricks with another spectacular outing. The key stat...NO WALKS!
PLAY OF THE GAME- The Cubs getting out of the 6th inning jam scoreless with runners on the corners & no outs to stop any threat of a comeback.
QUOTE OF THE GAME- "Being a leadoff guy like that for us is huge. He's totally locked in right now." - Kyle (Hendricks) on Kyle (Schwarber)
NEXT GAME- 6/10/19 v COL
Yu Darvish (2-3) v German Marquez (6-3)
Kris Bryant has reached base safely in 42 of his last 46 games starting April 17th. He's hitting .297 (19-64) with 7 doubles, 2 HRs, 12 runs scored & 4 RBI in his last 16 games.