Chicago Cubs right-hander Kyle Hendricks perfectly executed a sinker on the edge of the strike zone, freezing Detroit Tigers left fielder Robbie Grossman.
The pitch got Grossman looking for strike three to end the eighth inning Sunday afternoon at Comerica Park. Hendricks went back out for the ninth before two singles to open the inning ended his day.
The Tigers scored a two-out run on a would-be inning-ending double play when Jonathan Schoop was ruled safe at first on an overturned call via replay review. But right-hander Dan Winkler struck out the next batter to preserve the Cubs’ 5-1 win. The Cubs won two of three in the series.
Hendricks struck out eight batters and locked down the Tigers when they threatened. They went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position against Hendricks. The run in the ninth was charged to Hendricks.
A heads-up aggressive play by Ian Happ put the Cubs ahead in the third. Happ, who was on second after a single and a Willson Contreras walk, kept running on Kris Bryant’s one-out grounder to second. Bryant beat the throw to first to break up the potential inning-ending play, and first baseman Schoop’s throw home was off target as Happ easily scored for a 1-0 lead.
Happ’s RBI double in the fourth added to the Cubs’ advantage. A mix of timely hitting and extra-base hits produced a three-run fifth against Tigers starter Matthew Boyd. David Bote doubled, Nico Hoerner hit a sacrifice fly and Happ connected for a solo home run to right to build a five-run lead for Hendricks to work with.
