Hendricks' worst inning leads to blowout loss by Cubs
It was a pretty good indication this wasn't going to be the Cubs' night when starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks was rocked for 4 home runs in the first inning.
Hendricks had never given up 4 homers in one outing during his major league career, let alone one inning. He settled down a little, but the Cubs still lost handily 13-4 to Atlanta on Sunday at Wrigley Field.
Giving up 6 runs in one inning is also something Hendricks has never experienced before. He ended up going 4 innings, with 7 earned runs overall, matching his worst outing with the Cubs.
"It's like any other adverse situation, really," he said. "You just try and learn from it. Feel what's going on, but then forget about it and move on to the next pitch. That was the focus. That's where Willy (Contreras) and I were at.
"I just made a lot of bad pitches there, a lot of flat pitches over the middle of the plate. Just got to set a better tone, be aggressive, come right at guys and get ahead in counts."
Hendricks missed his scheduled start in Milwaukee on Tuesday because of feeling under the weather. The Cubs sent him home out of an abundance of caution with COVID concerns.
He didn't think the layoff was a factor for not being sharp on Sunday.
"I don't think so, I was just not very good overall from the start," Hendricks said. "Not aggressive, falling behind guys and then everything was flat. I was able to make a little bit of an adjustment, but no, I can't attribute it really to any of that. I've got to get back to work, got a lot to work on going forward."
Hendricks said he just had a cold, something he would pitch through and not give a second thought in normal times.
This game was basically a quick three-act play. The Braves erupted in the first inning. The Cubs answered with 2 runs in the bottom of the inning and later closed within 6-3. They had a chance.
That ended in the sixth when a Guillermo Heredia grand slam off Ryan Tepera capped off a 6-run inning and put the game out of reach.
The bright spot for the Cubs was 2 home runs from Anthony Rizzo. He pulled one to right field in the first inning, then knocked one to the opposite field in the third.
Rizzo is the latest Cubs regular to start showing signs of life after a miserable start at the plate.
"I think in the beginning of year, you always want to get off to the (Yermin) Mercedes 8-for-8 start and be able to relax, get those hits and get all the firsts out of the way," Rizzo said. "This is still early. Not even three weeks in.
"It's just human nature. The jitters are back, the fans are back, it's just getting used to the whole atmosphere again and the last two days showed a good life for our offense that's a good sign for things to come."
It wasn't a great day for the Cubs' bullpen either as Tepera and Alec Mills were both tagged for 3 earned runs. Andrew Chafin and Dan Winkler tossed scoreless innings once Atlanta hit 13.
Cubs closer Craig Kimbrel hadn't pitched in five days, so he came on to work the ninth inning and extended his hitless streak to 10 ⅓ innings and scoreless streak to 14 ⅓ innings, both going back to last season.
Braves star Acuna Jr. left in the fourth inning with lower abdominal pain. He seemed to hurt himself diving back to first base on a pickoff attempt, then came around to score and slid headfirst into home plate.
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