Fun in the sun a winning formula as Cubs edge Royals
At one point this season, the Cubs' record on Sundays was 2-12.
That's beginning to change, with the latest example being a 4-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals at Wrigley Field. Late-game home runs by Seiya Suzuki and Miguel Amaya provided precisely the cushion needed to survive a subpar outing by closer Adbert Alzolay, who gave up 2 runs in the ninth.
Maybe the best approach for the Cubs is a commitment to Sunday being "Fun Day." That was a theme for this game, starting with Suzuki, who bounced back from a four-game benching to find his power swing.
Since returning to the starting lineup, Suzuki has hit .344 with now 3 home runs in nine games.
"It looks like he's having fun," Cubs manager David Ross said. "I've never seen him smile running around the bases, yelling in the dugout. I think just having a really good time."
Something else worth celebrating is a healthy Kyle Hendricks. He gave up just 1 run over 6⅓ innings against a Royals lineup that has been top 10 in OPS since the all-star break.
"I saw two 90 miles per hour pitches today, that was cool," Ross said of Hendricks' outing.
Hendricks is notoriously one of the slowest throwers in MLB, so what does he think: Is 90 mph worth celebrating?
"It shows me I'm doing the right things and I'm where I need to be strength-wise," Hendricks said. "I think the guys get a little excited behind me when they see it, so I'll let them revel in it."
According to Statcast, Hendricks peaked at 89.7 mph with a third-inning fastball. But if you round up, he hit 90 four times on Sunday. That's significant, because Hendricks' fastball used to average 90 mph in 2015 and '16. It got progressively slower, reaching 86.9 mph last year before his season ended early with a shoulder injury.
According to Statcast, he went from 2020-22 without throwing a single pitch above 90.0 mph, but has done it this season.
"There's a few pieces missing right now - my curve ball, runners on base," Hendricks said. "If I can bring all that together, my heater command and my change-up are the best they've been in a long time."
A healthy Hendricks definitely enhances the Cubs' playoff potential. With Sunday's win, they are in sole possession of the final NL wild card spot and 3 games behind Milwaukee in the NL Central. After getting swept by the Dodgers, the Brewers pulled off a three-game sweep in Texas this weekend.
"We want to put ourselves in position to make a solid run," Hendricks said. "We're having so much fun in there now. This is an awesome group. We're having a good time in the clubhouse. It's just such a close-knit group."
Like he did against the White Sox in his previous start, Hendricks was hit early, then settled down. This time, he limited damage to 1 run in the first inning, then saw little traffic after that.
The Cubs took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the first inning and never gave it back. Nico Hoerner singled, then Ian Happ followed with a sinking liner that skipped past center fielder Kyle Isbel. Hoerner scored and Happ went to third on the hit plus two-base error, then Cody Bellinger followed with a sacrifice fly.
It looked like there might be a ton of runs scored on a sweltering day, but the board didn't change until Suzuki homered in the fifth. Amaya's homer in the eighth made it 4-1.
Suzuki said after the game he thinks getting benched delivered benefits.
"During that time, I took some time out and thought to myself, 'What can I do to make myself an even better player?'" he said with help from a translator. "I think because of that time span, I'm getting those results right now.
"I think it was really great for me because I was able to learn a lot of things while not playing. That can really benefit you as a player in the long run. So I'm glad I was able to use that time wisely."
Twitter: @McGrawDHSports