LDN - Sports

Hendricks sparkles, earns 14th win for Cubs

[September 06, 2016] MILWAUKEE -- For six innings, the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs gave the crowd of 28,609 at Miller Park all the makings of a September pennant race.

But quickly, the Cubs reminded the predominantly Chicago-based crowd which team was a run-away division leader and which was the squad mired in a massive rebuilding process, using a four-run eighth inning to pull away for a 7-2 victory.

"One of our goals is to score first, but we've been able to overcome early deficits," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. "We've got that strong believability that we can. That's a big part of our recent success."

Chris Coghlan drove in a pair of those runs, and three on the day, while going 2-for-2 after entering the game as a pinch-hitter in the seventh. Chicago also got two hits each from Jorge Soler, Javier Baez and Miguel Montero.

But reigning National League Pitcher of the Month Kyle Hendricks set the stage for the late-inning fireworks, holding Milwaukee to five hits and two runs with six strikeouts in six innings of work.

"I didn't get super deep in the game," Hendricks said. "But, the only way you can deep into a game is just to focus on making good pitches, having some simple thoughts. That's how I've been the last two months at least. So I'm just trying to stay consistent with those simple thoughts."

Chris Carter's solo home run in the second was the only run allowed by Hendricks (14-7), who hasn't allowed more than three earned runs in his last 19 starts.

"He has really picked us up," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said.

"That's just who he is. He normally gets you deeply into the game. That's who he is, man. You pretty much have an idea what you're going to get when he goes out there. Strike throwing, they've got to put the ball in play, they've got to move it. He normally does not get himself into trouble."

Kyle Davies allowed three runs -- two earned - on six hits and a pair of walks in 6 2/3 innings of work.

Davies (10-7) blanked the Cubs through his first five innings but Soler tied the game at 1 with an RBI single in the sixth. After Davies retired the first two batters in the seventh, Montero doubled and scored on Coghlan's first hit of the day, putting the Cubs ahead, 2-1.

"Once they got the momentum, they kept it," Davies said.

Coghlan scored when Scooter Gennett flipped over trying to field Tommy La Stella's chopper in the hole at second, making it a 3-1 game and bringing Davies' day to an end.

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Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks (28) throws a pitch in the first inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

"I thought Davies threw well," Coghlan said. "The whole time we just kept saying, stick with it, we'll get to him, he can't keep tricking us and getting us out. And we were able to do that."

The Cubs piled on in the eighth, putting four straight batters on against Ben Rowen with three singles and an error that extended the lead to 5-1. Coghlan wrapped up the inning with a two-run single off Rob Scahill.

"Every run they scored, even the base hits (Davies) gave up, that was soft contact," Counsell said. "Some jam shots. If anything, they get rewarded for contact today. It wasn't hard contact, it was just contact and they got rewarded for that."

Ryan Braun hit a solo home run off Jake Buchanan in the ninth, their only hit over the final three innings.

"We gave ourselves some two-out opportunities but no big opportunities," Counsell said. "That's what you kind of expect; limited opportunities. I thought it was a day that we'd have to get a two-out hit to win that game and we didn't get one early enough today."

NOTES: Maddon added that RHP Hector Rondon would likely be activated from the disabled list during the Cubs' series in Milwaukee. Rondon has been out since Aug. 17 with a strained right triceps. ... The Brewers brought a four-game winning streak into play Monday, matching their season high. They haven't had a five-game winnings streak since Aug. 30-Sept. 5 of last year. ... Chicago has won five in a row against the Brewers, including a four-game sweep last month at Wrigley Field. The Cubs are 9-3 against Milwaukee in 2016 and are 34-16 against their NL Central rivals since the start of the 2014 season.

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