PHOENIX — The Chicago Cubs kicked off a favorable schedule to start the second half by taking advantage of the worst team in baseball.
Behind a quality start from right-hander Kyle Hendricks, the Cubs beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-1 in Friday night’s series opener.
Since his rough April, Hendricks has a 2.65 ERA in his last 14 starts, which includes holding the Diamondbacks to one run in six innings Friday. He has gone at least six innings in all but one of those starts.
Hendricks, who improved to 12-4, battled command at times, especially in the fourth when the Diamondbacks loaded the bases with one out behind a double and two walks. He struggled to spot his changeup but battled and got a fly out and strikeout looking to end the inning to maintain the Cubs’ one-run lead.
A sacrifice fly off Jake Marisnick’s bat put the the Cubs ahead 1-0 in the first.
The long ball powered the Cubs the rest of the way.
Anthony Rizzo’s solo home run in the fourth tied him with Aramis Ramirez for sixth most in franchise history with 239 homers. In the seventh, Patrick Wisdom’s 13th home run moved him into a third-place tie for the team lead with Willson Contreras despite not playing in his first game until May 25.
Jason Heyward added a two-run pinch-hit homer, his second since coming off the injured list in early June.
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