The Chicago Cubs are nearing the finish line of a staggering stretch of baseball, but they’re still piling up wins as they beat the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on Monday night.
Kyle Hendricks was masterful, pitching eight and two-thirds innings while giving up one run and striking out eight batters in the game. Javier Baez and Kris Bryant both hit home runs for the Cubs, who trimmed their magic number in the Central Division race to just 10 with the victory.
The teams played five scoreless innings to start the contest, with Hendricks and Diamondbacks hurler Patrick Corbin putting up zeroes on the scoreboard. That all changed in the sixth, as Anthony Rizzo grounded into an RBI fielder’s choice to score Albert Almora Jr. and give the Cubs a 1-0 lead.
Baez then promptly extended Chicago’s lead, cracking his 32nd home run of the season over the left field wall to make it a 3-0 contest.
The score remained the same until the eighth inning when Bryant stepped up and went opposite field with his 12th home run of the season. The long ball was Bryant’s first since being activated off the disabled list earlier this month, and is yet another signal that the former MVP could finally be finding his form in the season’s final weeks.
From there, the Cubs cruised to victory, knocking off Arizona on the 28th day of a 30-day marathon of scheduled games.
The Cubs will look to secure a series victory on Tuesday night when they battle the Diamondbacks again in the desert. Lefty starter Mike Montgomery will take the ball for Joe Maddon’s club, and Matt Andriese will oppose him on behalf of the Diamondbacks.
