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Rizzo powers Chicago Cubs past New York Mets

Pitching and defense go together hand in glove.

In the Chicago Cubs' 6-2 victory Wednesday over the New York Mets, you can add "arm" to that as well as a few other body parts.

Kyle Hendricks pitched it, working 6⅓ innings and improving to 9-6 with a 2.27 ERA, third best in baseball.

Jason Heyward, Anthony Rizzo and Javier Baez provided the glove and arm work.

And, oh yes, Rizzo took care of the offensive side of the game with a pair of monster home runs, his 23rd and 24th of the season, both coming against veteran right-hander Bartolo Colon.

The bottom line is that the Cubs (57-37) enter Thursday's off-day having taken two of three from both the Mets and Rangers on this homestand.

Coming out of the all-star break, the Cubs have looked rested and ready and have played mostly clean baseball.

"The last five or six games I've pitched, I've had unbelievable defense, and they've scored runs," said Hendricks, who has won 5 straight decisions. "That's a good recipe for success and wins."

Hendricks did not give up a run while allowing 7 hits. He walked one and struck out seven.

The Cubs got him a pair in the first inning on Addison Russell's 2-run double. In the third, Rizzo crushed a solo homer to right-center. He hit a 2-run blast in the Cubs' 3-run fifth.

"Even if they go out just over the yellow line, it's just as good," Rizzo said of the homers. "Those definitely feel good."

As fun as the homers are to watch soar out of the ballpark, the defense might have been more important in this game.

In the fourth, the Mets had runners on first and second with two outs. Kelly Johnson singled to center, and Heyward uncorked a long throw to nail James Loney at the plate, with catcher Miguel Montero deftly snagging the ball and tagging the runner.

"It was a tough play," Montero said. "To be honest, I think I got lucky that ball went into my glove because it was a really short hop. It was definitely a tough play."

As good as that play looked, Montero said there's something even more crucial working for the Cubs on defense lately.

"Routine plays, simple as that," he said. "If you make all the routine plays, that's what you're going to get. If you make just the flashy plays, you're not going anywhere. That's the difference. You've got to make the routine 'routine'."

Second baseman Javier Baez ran into the tarp in back of first base to catch Juan Legares' popup in the seventh with runners on first and second and nobody out. The Cubs ended the inning by turning a double play.

"Oh, man, that was a great play," said Rizzo, who had a close-up view of Baez. "Good thing he didn't collapse and go forward, because his head was going right into that brick wall, and that wall would have won. That was a really nice play. He was going full speed there."

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  Cubs Addison Russell blasts a double in the bottom of the first inning, helping 2 runs score against the Mets at Wrigley Field. Mark Welsh/mwelsh@dailyherald.com
  Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon wipes the sweat from his eyes as he swelters in the hot sun before the game with the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Mark Welsh/mwelsh@dailyherald.com
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