It happened again. Not that anyone should be the least bit surprised that the Cubs blew another one on the road.
Kyle Hendricks was fantastic tonight, shaking off whatever it was that seemed to trouble him last time out (including having his velocity right back up in its normal 87-88 mph range). Through seven one-run innings, Hendricks allowed just three hits and one walk, striking out one. He definitely relied on some quality defense behind him, but he didn’t get crushed out there.
The Cubs had absolutely nothing on Joe Musgrove (which always seems to happen), and looked pretty flat for the first several innings of the game. Residue from last night, or just our own confirmation bias? Shrug.
In any case, the offense finally had a chance in the 8th when Jonathan Lucroy and Ian Happ hit back-to-back one-out singles, forcing Musgrove from the game. And then Tony Kemp crushed one to the wall in right center off of Felipe Lopez, scoring the runners and giving the Cubs a surprisingly lead – yes, coming back from 1-0 in the 8th on the road counts as a surprise at this point. If they’d actually managed to hold that lead, it would have been a dang miracle.
For the second straight night, David Bote couldn’t handle an infield bouncer (this time ruled a hit, but still), and then things went sideways from there. A grounder advances the runner, an intentional walk, and two unintentional walks tied the game. Then a walk-off single to win it. Not quite as dramatic as last night, but just as shitty.