PITTSBURGH – It looked as if Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks was going to escape the second inning with the score tied. He’d induced Rowdy Tellez to pop up to the left side of the field with two runners in scoring position.
It wasn’t to be. Third baseman Isaac Paredes was traveling straight back. Shortstop Dansby Swanson, shaded up the middle against a left-handed hitter, had a lot of ground to cover but was dashing toward the ball all the same. The popup landed between the two infielders for a two-run single.
In the Cubs’ wild 14-10 comeback victory to complete a three- game sweep of the Pirates, the second inning only spiraled from there for Hendricks. And it ended his start early.
“Absolutely incredible to stay with that when I put us that far behind the eight ball to start,” said Hendricks, who allowed six runs in 1 ⅔ innings.
While Hendricks’ worst start of the year certainly made the win all the more impressive, it also continued a pattern. Most of Hendricks’ worst outings this season have imploded in one big inning.
“Felt so much better than my last start,” Hendricks said. “So, just one of those days where it's baseball. It happens. Stuck with it pitch to pitch, did what I could. But just baseball at the end of the day. So, so proud of these guys.”
Hendricks has an inauspicious beginning to his outing. After inducing leadoff hitter Isiah Kiner-Falefa to ground out, Hendricks gave up a solo homer to Bryan Reynolds that cleared the right-field stands. But he navigated a single and a walk to get out of the inning without further damage.
He went into the bottom of the second inning with a 3-1 lead that quickly evaporated.
Hendricks walked Yasmani Grandal to open the inning and gave up a double to Jared Triolo, which Cubs right fielder Cody Bellinger played off the wall efficiently to make sure a run didn’t score.
Next up, Alika Williams worked a full count. But Hendricks got him to whiff on a changeup for the first out. Then Kiner-Falefa grounded out to first baseman Michael Busch, pushing across a run.
Reynolds' soft line drive up the middle fell just out of shortstop Dansby Swanson’s reach and tied the game. But all that would have been palatable if the inning had ended two batters later.
Instead, after O’Neil Cruz’ double moved Reynolds to third, Tellez’ two-run bloop single not only gave the Pirates the lead but also extended what had already been a long inning for Hendricks.
He allowed back-to-back hard base hits and then walked Grandal for the second time in the inning. Manager Craig Counsell took Hendricks out of the game with the Cubs trailing 6-3.
Reliever Ethan Roberts replaced him and threw one pitch to record the final out. Statcast estimated then that the Pirates had an 81% win probability.
The Cubs went on to beat the odds.
