Hendricks struggles in fifth as D-backs top Cubs |
MESA — Things are getting serious in Cactus League play as the regular season begins in less than two weeks. This is when most managers start treating these games like regular season games in an effort to prepare their team for the long marathon ahead.
That includes having your starting pitchers get stretched out a bit, with Kyle Hendricks making what could be his second-to-last start this Spring. Hendricks was dialed in early on as he held the Diamondbacks scoreless through four while allowing just two hits. Then came the fifth when Hendricks started to run out of gas, and the Diamondbacks made him pay as they pushed across all four of their runs in that inning to take down the Cubs 4-1. While the loss and overall line weren't the greatest for Hendricks, he threw 84 pitches, and Craig Counsell seems content with what he sees from his right-hander. Struggling in spring is nothing new for Hendricks, as he historically has been terrible in spring before pitching well during the regular season. Although he was tagged with four earned runs in 4 2/3, he only allowed five hits, three of which were extra-base hits. He didn't walk a man and struck out three. Kyle Hendricks, Nasty Cut Changeup...and Saunters off the Mound with a Velo Check. pic.twitter.com/xqzuyyccCi What could be an even bigger concern was the Cubs' lack of offense tonight, as this was as close to their Opening Day lineup as you can get. It's not like the Diamondbacks threw Zach Gallen out there, but instead went with an early spring approach of using everyone for at least an inning, including the starter Eduardo Rodriguez. Still, the Cubs struggled to get any momentum going, as they were held to just six hits and one run in the defeat. The Cubs had a chance to strike first in the bottom half of the first, as the one-out Seiya Suzuki double set the offense up, only to have Rodriguez pitch around that jam. That was the bulk of the scoring chances early on for either team, as the Diamondbacks managed just a pair of singles through four innings, while the Cubs had two runners on in the third but couldn't cash in. With the score still knotted 0-0 and entering the fifth, the Arizona offense came to life first, doing plenty of damage in that inning. What started with a leadoff Pavin Smith single, who had three hits in the game, was followed by the Alek Thomas double, and just like that, Arizona had two on and no outs. Blaze Alexander kept the line moving with the go-ahead single, while the Jose Herrera sacrifice fly gave the Diamondbacks a 2-0 lead. That sacrifice fly proved to be the winning run, but the Arizona offense wasn't quite done as Hendricks surrendered consecutive RBI doubles to Geraldo Perdermo and Lourdes Gurriel, and just like that, the Diamondbacks broke things open 4-0. Hendricks was lifted in favor of Hayden Wesneski, who went out to pitch 1 1/3 flawless innings before turning things over to the dominating Luke Little to breeze through the seventh. Apparently, all it took for the Cubs offense to come to life was putting in the bench players as the Cubs finally broke through in their half of the seventh. With Francisco Morales on the bump, Jorge Alfaro started a late-inning rally as his hustling two-out double set the Cubs offense up to score their first run. Jonathan Long followed that up with a seeing-eye single to right field, and the Cubs were finally on the board 4-1. Dominic Smith appeared to have kept things going, but his line drive was caught, ending the inning without further damage. With Colten Brewer striking out the side in the eighth, another two-out rally kept things alive. The Juan Mora single extended the inning and gave the Cubs another baserunner. Unfortunately, this time, the Cubs couldn't cash in, as Gerardo Gutierrez struck out Jefferson Encarnacion to put an end to that threat. Looking to keep things right where things were, Joe Nahas was called on to pitch the ninth and after retiring the first two hitters he faced, it was Nahas running into trouble. He allowed a Wilfred Patino single and walked a man to put a pair of runners on before doing what the Cubs pen did all night and posting a zero. Down to their last opportunity, the Cubs were hoping a leadoff single by Miles Mastrobuoni would be the trick, but he was the Cubs final baserunner in a 4-1 defeat.
