CHICAGO _ When Addison Russell arrived Friday morning at the Cubs' clubhouse, he noticed his teammates sporting smiles and high energy.
"That's what we were hoping for, that those guys took time off, recuperated and it's back to business," he said.
After the Cubs staggered to a 6-15 finish to the first half, they were as sharp to start the second as they were in jumping off to a 25-6 record.
From the sharp pitching of Kyle Hendricks to airtight defense to timely hitting, the Cubs looked reinvigorated in a 6-0 victory over the Rangers to jump-start a strong run to the National League Central title.
"I couldn't have envisioned a better start regarding the way we played," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said of the interleague triumph over the American League West-leading Rangers.
He described fatigue as a "nasty opponent" after the Cubs finished the first half with 24 consecutive games without a day off before the four-day All-Star break.
"You do need rest," he said. "You do need to take care of yourself. Hopefully that's a harbinger there."
Hendricks remained immune to the club's recent woes as he pitched six innings of three-hit ball. The Cubs are 5-0 in his last five starts.
Hendricks' 2.41 ERA is third in the major leagues, behind only Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers (1.79) and Madison Bumgarner (1.94) of the Giants.
"Kyle is one of the best pitchers in the National League right now, and nobody's talking about it," Maddon said.
Hendricks' outing provided some calm to a Cubs rotation that was adjusted so Jake Arrieta will have 10 days off before making his next start Tuesday night against the Mets.
Jon Lester, who pitched two-thirds of an inning in the All-Star Game, will make his first start of the second half Monday night against the Mets.
"(Hendricks) has been kind of a tone-setter," Maddon said. "It's not unlike what Jake did last year. He has been that good. He's just doing it in a different way. He's not overpowering but (inducing) weak contact."
Hendricks was facing the Rangers for the first time since they included him in a deal midway through the 2013 season for Ryan Dempster.
"The irony is at the time we were concerned about giving up (infielder Christian) Villanueva," Rangers general manager Jon Daniels told the Dallas Morning News. "Kyle has done a heck of a job.
"There's always risk. It's like grading the draft the next day. It takes time to play out."
The Cubs' rookie defenders wasted no time lending support to Hendricks. Center fielder Albert Almora Jr. made two spectacular catches. Catcher Willson Contreras made a strong throw to nail Rougned Odor on a steal attempt in the third.
And Kris Bryant ranged deep behind third base to make a back-handed stop of an Adrian Beltre grounder with first baseman Anthony Rizzo stretching far to catch the one-hop throw for the final out of the eighth with two runners on base.
Clutch hitting also resurfaced during a five-run sixth when Russell ripped a two-run single and pinch hitter Matt Szczur followed later with a two-run single off left-hander Martin Perez.
Russell, who batted only .167 in the first half against left-handers, doubled off Perez and scored on Javier Baez's two-out single in the second.
