The Cubs could not solve Sonny Gray (again), and for the second start in a row, Kyle Hendricks was charged with as many runs as the Cubs’ bullpen. But, uh, this time it wasn’t because he threw nine scoreless innings.
Hendricks didn’t have his best tonight, frequently leaving the changeup up and catching too much of the zone. Rex Brothers didn’t help him out by giving up a grand slam to Nick Castellanos after Hendricks had departed, but nevertheless, it wasn’t a great night for Hendricks.
The Cubs’ bats managed to wake up after Sonny Gray departed (along with half the Cubs regulars), making it a 9-5 game … just in time for Dillon Maples to pitch about as ineffectively as possible. At least we wound up getting to see a triple play out of it. But the resulting 12 runs made the Cubs’ offensive output – 7 runs by the time it was all said and done – quite short. Still some nice offensive performances, though. David Bote keeps raking. That’s fun.