Phillies-Cubs Preview
Kyle Hendricks has lost consecutive starts, but they both came on the road. He's been far better at Wrigley Field this season and over the course of his career, so he could get back in the win column Saturday as the Chicago Cubs try to take the first two of a three-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies. It's difficult to place too much blame on the right-hander for his latest effort. Hendricks (2-4, 3.30 ERA) gave up a run and three hits with three walks in 5 1/3 innings of Sunday's 1-0 loss in San Francisco. The problem was opposing pitcher Madison Bumgarner's run-scoring double following Gregor Blanco's leadoff walk in the fifth. "That was the game right there," Hendricks said. "Facing that kind of guy, going into it, I kind of knew I would have to keep it close. The thing for me was the leadoff walks. It can't happen. That was the only bad part. Overall my stuff was moving. I just wasn't commanding it well. I couldn't get good command until later." The Cubs failed to score for Hendricks for a second straight start, dropping his run-support average to 2.33. It dropped him to 1-3 with a 4.37 ERA and three straight losses in his four away starts, while he's 1-1 with a 2.28 mark in four at home. For his career, he's 7-5 with a 2.83 at Wrigley and 10-8 with a 4.07 away. One of those victories came in Philadelphia on Sept. 11 with Hendricks giving up three runs and four hits in 6 2/3 innings of a 7-3 final for his only work against the Phillies. He's up against Jerad Eickhoff, who's coming off one of his two best starts of the season. Eickhoff (2-6, 3.86) gave up five hits in seven innings of Sunday's 5-0 home win over Atlanta after going 0-5 with a 5.45 ERA in his previous six outings. "I had really good fastball command today," Eickhoff told MLB's official website. "That's something that I've been trying to get back to. ... I think I was able to do that for the most part today." The five runs of support matched the Phillies' output for him in his previous four outings. Eickhoff pitched the day after Hendricks beat the Phillies last season and came away with a no-decision in a 7-5 win after holding the Cubs to a run and three hits in seven innings. Chicago (32-14) opened the series with Friday's 6-2 win for their third in a row as Jorge Soler, Kris Bryant and David Ross homered. Soler has three of his five home runs in the last seven games while going 7 for 21 after entering that span batting .187. Bryant has homered in consecutive games and four of his last seven. The Cubs are batting .318 on the winning streak with 27 runs after scoring six times on a three-game skid. Philadelphia (26-22) lost for the fifth time in seven games. Odubel Herrera had two more hits and is 8 for 19 in his last five games. |