Sept. 21 – Kyle Hendricks is starting to feel like himself again.
The Cubs right-hander struggled in the first half before finding his footing, and he’ll look to continue that effort Saturday afternoon when Chicago continues a four-game series against the visiting Washington Nationals.
Since the beginning of August, Hendriks is 1-2 with a 4.68 ERA. However, on August 28 against the Pittsburgh Pirates, he gave up six runs in just 1 2/3 innings and his ERA soared.
Excluding that game, Hendriks has given up 12 runs (11 ERA) in his last 31 innings, giving him a 3.19 ERA. This was all after going 3-9 with a 6.86 ERA in late July.
Hendriks (4-11, 6.25 ERA) was particularly strong in his last outing, allowing just one run on two hits over six innings in Sunday’s win over the Colorado Rockies.
“I can’t thank (the Cubs) enough,” Hendriks said. “Honestly, all the way to the top, they kept giving me opportunities that I didn’t deserve. That’s been the case this year. I’m very grateful and appreciative, just to keep moving forward.”
In 10 career games against the Wizards, Hendriks has a 4–2 record with a 2.70 ERA.
The Nationals (68-86) plan to counter with lefty MacKenzie Gore (9-12, 4.17).
Gore beat the Miami Marlins on Sunday. In that game, he pitched six innings, giving up one run (which was unearned) and two hits.
Saturday marked Gore’s fourth career start against Chicago, locking the left-hander with a 1-2 record and 7.04 ERA.
If Gore wants to end his career woes against the Cubs (79-75), he will need some help from Washington’s offense that was held to just 5 hits. It was the Nationals’ fifth consecutive loss.
Rookie James Wood, the Nationals’ No. 3 hitter, singled in the eighth inning, but the top five hitters in Washington’s lineup went a combined 1-for-16 (.063).
“This is the time when you have to buckle up and make that one last push,” Wood said. “I know the offseason is coming, but you can’t really focus on the offseason when we still have games.”
With playoff chances waning, that late drive was exactly what Chicago needed. The Cubs trail the New York Mets by six games in the race for the final National League wild card.
Even if the Cubs pull off a historic postseason rally, doing so via the wild-card game would be unacceptable to Chicago second baseman Nico Horner.
“This is a team and organization that should not be set up to compete for a wild card,” Horner said. “Of course, you want to be the class in your division, but that’s not the case for us this year. (The Milwaukee Brewers) locking up the division on Sept. 18 is a huge deal.”
Fortunately for the Cubs, they dominated the Nationals in 2024 and won all five games between the two teams.
–Visual-level media
