CINCINNATI — It was going to be difficult for Kyle Hendricks to duplicate his success from Opening Day, and after two solid starts by Cubs pitchers, the Reds’ lineup wasn’t going to be denied for a third consecutive night.
Hendricks didn’t have his usual pinpoint control in the 12-7 loss to the Reds on Wednesday, but he made it through three innings without allowing any real damage.
Things began to unravel for the Cubs’ right-hander in the fourth inning as he left a 3-2 changeup out over the plate to second baseman Mike Moustakas, who deposited it into the right-field seats.
“It was just a battle from the start today really. It just wasn’t good,” Hendricks said. “Everything was up. I kind of got away with some pitches in the first and second inning the first time through the order. Just rolling through my delivery. Just really didn’t do anything well. Couldn’t pitch inside effectively, so it’s just back to work tomorrow.”
The Reds kept adding in the fifth as they scored seven runs, including four coming courtesy of former Cub Nick Castellanos’ grand slam that broke the game open.
Hendricks was charged with six runs over 4⅓ innings with three strikeouts and two walks in his second start of the season. It was the first time a Cubs starter failed to reach the fifth inning since Saturday.
“I think [the changeup] was a little flat,” manager David Ross said. “It was really effective early and looked like it flattened out a little bit late. That could have been from some fatigue. He was running out of steam. That fourth inning started and he didn’t look as sharp as he normally does.”
Great American Ballpark has become a nemesis to Hendricks during his career. The right-hander is now 2-5 with a 6.57 ERA in the Reds’ home ballpark.
“I’ve been feeling good every day up until now,” Hendricks said. “Not tired or anything like that. Just one of those days. It’s going to happen in baseball.”
Quintana throws a successful bullpen
Jose Quintana threw his first bullpen since undergoing surgery to repair the sensory nerve in his left thumb. Pitching coach Tommy Hottovy was able to watch his left-hander throw via FaceTime, and after the 28-pitch session, things seem to be going in the right direction.
“It was good. He looked good. He was able to work on everything,” Hottovy said. “He threw some breaking balls and changeups and stuff. So, really good in what I would consider his first real bullpen off that, you know, where he got to work on everything. So that was a real positive.”
Hottovy said the next step for Quintana will be for hitters to stand in for a simulated inning to track how the ball is moving, which likely will come on Saturday, before working back into a regular five-day routine.
“The fact that things are going really well so far is super exciting,” Ross said. “I know how these things go, so we’ll continue to monitor it day to day, but that’ll be a nice problem to have when he gets the ability to pitch again and get back to where he was.
“He was in a really good place, I thought, coming out of spring training. . . . He’s staying hungry. He’s a good guy to have around, and we can’t wait for him to get back.”
