Hendricks works another gem, Chicago Cubs walk off in 11
It's now back-to-back economical outings for Chicago Cubs right-hander Kyle Hendricks.
On the heels of his complete-game shutout of the St. Louis Cardinals last week, Henricks worked 8 innings of 5-hit, 1-run ball Wednesday night as the Cubs beat the Miami Marlins 3-2 at Wrigley Field. The Cubs needed 11 innings after the bullpen blew a save chance in the ninth.
Jason Heyward led off the bottom of the 11th with an opposite-field home run to left field against lefty Jose Quijada.
"It's just good to win," said Heyward, who came into the game in a 1-for-15 funk and who was 0-for-4 Wednesday before the homer.
Heyward's homer came one night after Kris Bryant hit a 3-run, walk-off homer. It was the first time the Cubs won consecutive games on walk-off homers since Sept. 12-13, 1998, when Orlando Merced and Mark Grace did it against Milwaukee.
Hendricks threw 96 pitches, 74 strikes, walking no one. Against the Cardinals, he threw 81 pitches, 63 strikes. He lowered his ERA from 3.93 to 3.19.
"Similar in a lot of ways, at least the mindset," Hendricks said. "I was being aggressive. Willy (catcher Willson Contreras) were on the same page all night, so that really helped."
The Marlins' run against Hendricks was unearned, and it came as a result of his throwing error that allowed leadoff batter Curtis Granderson to reach in the first inning. Granderson later scored on Starlin Castro's single.
The Cubs scored twice in the fourth, on an RBI single by Javier Baez and a passed ball charged to catcher Jorge Alfaro.
The bullpen situation came to the fore because the Cubs placed closer Pedro Strop on the injured list with a left-hamstring strain. The Cubs activated left-handed reliever Mike Montgomery from the IL. Montgomery had been out since early April with a left-lat strain.
For Strop, it's the same hamstring he injured last September in Washington. He said he felt discomfort during his 2-inning performance April 28 at Arizona. He said an MRI revealed a Grade 2 strain.
Strop had been filling in for closer Brandon Morrow, who is out indefinitely as he recovers from an off-season elbow cleanup.
Manager Joe Maddon said several relievers could close, including Brandon Kintzler, Steve Cishek, Brad Brach, Carl Edwards Jr. and former starter Tyler Chatwood.
Cishek suffered a blown save in the ninth, but Chatwood and Edwards (1-1) finished with scoreless ball.
Giving Zobrist time:
Cubs president Theo Epstein offered little detail on the leave of absence requested by and granted to veteran infielder-outfielder Ben Zobrist, who was placed on the restricted list. Zobrist requested the leave for personal reasons.
"The only thing appropriate for me to communicate is that he's requested a leave of absence from the team for personal family reasons and that leave was granted and he'll be away from the team for a period of time," Epstein said. "If and when it's appropriate for him to provide further detail or clarification, he will."