Harrison didn’t last long on base, as he was picked off. Gregory Polanco got the Pirates’ first hit, a bloop single to lead off the fifth.
Advertisement
Hendricks (13-7) struck out four and walked one while picking up his fourth win and second shutout in August.
Carl Edwards Jr. worked the eighth and Aroldis Chapman hit 103 miles per hour in a flawless ninth to finished the four-hitter for his 31st save.
“Today I did feel pretty good”, he said.
“It’s like coming back from a road trip and your wife has rearranged the furniture”, manager Clint Hurdle said. “I thought I was back in 1987 with Greg Maddux on the mound”.
Pittsburgh entered Tuesday nights game against the Cubs 1 1/2 games behind St. Louis for the second NL wild card.
Rizzo belted a two-run homer off starter Chad Kuhl (3-2) in the first and Miguel Montero added an RBI single an inning later as the Cubs improved to 84-47. Hendricks is seeking to become the first Cubs pitcher to win the major league ERA title since Bill Lee in 1938. The 24-year-old is 2-7 with a 3.91 ERA in 16 games with Indianapolis in 2016. Chad Kuhl gave up three runs in five innings, which is a better than average start considering it’s the Cubs he was facing.
Jordy Mercer doubled with two outs off Edwards in the eighth before pinch-hitter Matt Joyce flied deep to center to end Pittsburgh’s best threat.
Cole is on the DL retroactive to last Thursday, meaning he is eligible to return September 9. “Hopefully, (the rehab) will go quickly”, Cole said.
Pirates general manager Neal Huntington said in a statement Tuesday the team was “extremely disappointed” with the actions of RHP Dovydas Neverauskas and INF Gift Ngoepe of Triple-A Indianapolis. The first batch of players to join the Cubs – infielder Tommy La Stella, outfielder Chris Coghlan and reliever Joe Smith – are expected to be at Wrigley in time for the four-game series against the San Francisco Giants.
RHP Jason Hammel (13-7, 3.21) was moved up to start Wednesday night’s series finale against RHP Ryan Vogelsong (3-3, 3.02).
NATIONALS 3, PHILLIES 2: Max Scherzer didn’t allow a hit until the sixth inning and he was dominant through eight as the Washington Nationals continued their mastery of the Philadelphia Phillies with a 3-2 victory Tuesday night.
Advertisement
“It was tough for me in the early going to get in rhythm for whatever reason, but I found myself (later)”, Kuhn said.
