PITTSBURGH — It looked as if Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks was going to escape the second inning with the score tied. He got Rowdy Tellez to pop up to the left side of the field with runners in scoring position.
It wasn’t to be. Third baseman Isaac Paredes was traveling straight back. Shortstop Dansby Swanson, shaded up the middle against a left-handed hitter, had a lot of ground to cover but was dashing toward the ball all the same. The ball landed between the infielders for a two-run single.
In the Cubs’ wild 14-10 comeback victory Wednesday that completed a three-game sweep of the Pirates, the second inning only spiraled from there for Hendricks, who allowed six runs in 1⅔ innings.
While Hendricks’ worst start of the year certainly made the win all the more impressive, it also continued a pattern. Most of his worst outings this season have featured an implosion in one inning.
“Felt so much better than my last start,” Hendricks said. “So just one of those days where it’s baseball. It happens. Stuck with it pitch to pitch, did what I could. But just baseball at the end of the day. So, so proud of these guys.”
Hendricks had an inauspicious beginning to his outing. After getting leadoff hitter Isiah Kiner-Falefa to ground out, he allowed a solo home run to Bryan Reynolds that cleared the right-field stands. But he navigated a single and a walk to get out of the inning without further damage.
He had a 3-1 lead in the second inning that quickly evaporated.
Hendricks walked Yasmani Grandal to open the inning and gave up a double to Jared Triolo that right fielder Cody Bellinger played off the wall efficiently to make sure a run didn’t score.
Next up, Alika Williams worked a full count. But Hendricks got him to whiff on a changeup for the first out. Then Kiner-Falefa grounded out to first baseman Michael Busch, pushing across a run.
Reynolds’ soft line drive up the middle fell just out of Swanson’s reach and tied the score.
But all that would’ve been palatable if the inning had ended two batters later.
Instead, after Oneil Cruz’s double moved Reynolds to third, Tellez’s two-run bloop single gave the Pirates the lead and also extended what already had been a long inning for Hendricks.
He then allowed back-to-back hard hits and walked Grandal for the second time in the inning.
Manager Craig Counsell took Hendricks out with the Cubs trailing 6-3.
Reliever Ethan Roberts replaced him and threw one pitch to get the third out.
Statcast estimated then that the Pirates had an 81% win probability.
The Cubs went on to beat those odds.
This and that
- Left-handed reliever Drew Smyly cleared outright waivers and remained with the Cubs, according to sources. He entered the game in the fourth inning after Ethan Roberts exited with a sore right ankle.
Smyly allowed two runs (one earned) in two innings. The unearned run scored when Connor Joe’s ground-ball single got under left fielder Ian Happ’s glove for an error. - Rookie Ben Brown (neck) remains at the Cubs’ Arizona complex but still isn’t pitching, Craig Counsell said.
At this point in the season, returning from the injured list is a long shot for Brown. - Right-hander Hayden Wesneski (strained right forearm) has progressed to throwing live batting practice. When he returns, it likely will be as a reliever, with limited time to build him up.
