Hendricks went 6 1/3 innings and Patrick Wisdom hit two more home runs in the Cubs’ 4-3 victory, which avoided a four-game sweep.
SAN FRANCISCO – The Cubs needed some length out of Kyle Hendricks on Sunday after three short starts from Zach Davies, Jake Arrieta and Kohl Stewart. But after a lot of loud contact against Hendricks in the first three innings of the Cubs’ 4-3 win over the Giants, it didn’t look like he’d be able to make it through five either.
But the Cubs’ right-hander battled and despite allowing three early runs, he found another gear in the fourth inning as his next three innings looked completely different from the first three.
Hendricks retired 11 of the final 12 batters he faced and didn’t allow another hit after the third inning. He finished the game going 6 1/3 innings allowing three runs on seven hits with three walks and five strikeouts.
“This is a good stretch,” Hendricks said. “You want to play the good teams. It elevates your level of competition and elevates your game.”
Hendricks played stopper for the Cubs, helping to end their three-game losing streak and helping give the team’s bullpen a breather. He now has a quality start in six of his last seven outings and has won his last five starts.
“We’ve taxed that bullpen really hard,” manager David Ross said. “He picked us up today well we could just use sort of the back end guys and luckily they were fresh and able to get some big outs but nice performance by Kyle
“That’s always my focus,” he said. “Always want to go out there and go deep into the ballgame and keep my pitch count down. And I’ve been doing a pretty good job of it.”
Baez leaves game with hand injury
Shortstop Javy Baez was removed from the game in the seventh inning of Sunday’s game against the Giants with a right hand injury.
During his final at-bat in the sixth inning, Baez grounded out sharply to first base, but after making contact, the Cubs’ shortstop never left the batter’s box and shook out his right hand.
“Where that ball hit, hitting off the end [of the bat] sometimes just gives you a little jolt in the hand area,” Ross said. “We’ll check him out and see how he is tomorrow.”
Pederson out of the lineup for Cubs
Joc Pederson was not in the lineup for the Cubs series finale against the Giants on Sunday dealing with tightness in the right side of his back.
Pederson crashed into the left-field wall in the third inning of Saturday’s loss attempting to chase down Alex Dickerson’s home run before being removed from the game in the fifth inning.
“[He’s doing] much better,” Ross said before the game. “Talking to him this morning, it was smart to come out and make sure everything was all right. He did some work at the back end of the game [on Saturday]. Got some work done last night and feels much better today. Hopefully, things will continue to move in the right direction, but I think he’s going to be okay.”
Zobrist not auctioning World Series ring
Former Cub Ben Zobrist is not auctioning his 2016 World Series ring, according to reports. Zobrist’s agent, Scott Pucino, told the Chicago Tribune that the 2016 World Series MVP isn’t auctioning the ring after Heritage Auctions announced the sale on Friday.
