ST. LOUIS — The Chicago Cubs hit town for the first time this season, having lost 14 of their previous 17 games since the Cardinals were at Wrigley Field in June. But the Cubs also hit town with soft-tossing right-hander Kyle Hendricks, against whom the Cardinals had a similar career record.
The rest of Major League Baseball had found Hendricks a soft touch this season, hammering him for a 5.43 earned-run average. But Hendricks hadn’t faced the Cardinals yet and he was 12-3 in his career against them, which was the most wins he had had against any team.
He was up to his old tricks Friday night at Busch Stadium before a packed house of 46,524, the largest home crowd of the season. The Cardinals had just three harmless singles and a walk off Hendricks through seven innings as the Cubs blanked the Cardinals, 3-0, with Hendricks (3-6) winning for the first time since May 9.
Harrison Bader, a .375 career hitter against Hendricks, doubled to left in the eighth after Dylan Carlson had opened with a single to center. The Cardinals sent up left-handed-hitting Lars Nootbaar to hit for Andrew Knizner and Hendricks got Nootbaar to strike out on a change-up in the dirt.
Cubs manager David Ross brought in right-hander Chris Martin to face Tommy Edman and Edman sent a grounder up the middle which deflected off Martin. Martin hastily recovered the ball as Carlson scampered back to third and Bader, who was headed there, got back to second, and threw out Edman to first.
Cubs manager David Ross brought in right-hander Chris Martin to face Edman and Edman sent a grounder up the middle which deflected off Martin. Martin hastily recovered the ball as Carlson scampered back to third and Bader, who was headed there, got back to second, and threw out Edman to first.
