Cubs win 5th straight game, tying season-best streak

Kyle Hendricks pitched a seven-inning, no-run gem to lead the Chicago Cubs to a 5-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday, extending their winning streak to five games.

Over the past five games, the Cubs have capitalized on a ferocious offense and nearly unhittable pitching to post their longest winning streak of the season. That statement is best evidenced by the correlation of runs against their opponents during that span, scoring 31 runs and allowing just three.

Hendricks (2-7) turned in a dominant performance on Friday, allowing just five hits and one walk while striking out three batters. No Cardinals’ runner reached second base during his time on the mound. The veteran pitcher improved his career record against St. Louis to 14-4. This season, Kyle Hendricks has pitched 11 1/3 scoreless innings against the Cardinals.

Reliever Luke Little suffered an injury while facing the first batter of the eighth inning. Mark Leiter Jr. came in to handle the situation, and after Hunter Bigge struggled in the ninth, Hector Neris came on to pick up his 13th save.

Nico Hoerner and David Bote led the Cubs offense, each driving in two runs, the same amount as Miles Mastrobuoni.

The five-game winning streak matches the Cubs’ best winning streak in 2024. They had previously done so to start the season (one against the Rangers, three against the Rockies, and one against the Dodgers).

Cardinals starter Sonny Gray (9-6) pitched seven innings but allowed three runs and nine hits. Despite striking out six batters with no walks, the Cardinals suffered their third straight loss.

The Cubs took the lead in the third inning on a single by Mastrobuoni, a bunt single by Pete Crow-Armstrong and a sacrifice bunt by Miguel Amaya. Hoerner connected on a run-producing roller to open the scoring.

In the fourth inning, Ian Happ doubled with one out and scored on a single by Dansby Swanson to extend the Cubs lead to 2-0.

The Cubs extended their lead to 3-0 in the seventh inning on a single by Mastrobuoni, a single by Amaya and a sacrifice fly by Hoerner.

In the eighth inning, Christopher Morel and Swanson singled with two outs and Bote hit a two-run double to make it 5-0. The Cardinals finally got on the board in the ninth against Bigge, ending the Cubs’ scoreless streak at 32 1/3 innings.

Masyn Winn and Willson Contreras both singled, and Paul Goldschmidt followed with a productive single. Neris came in to retire the second batter on a line drive. He then walked Nolan Arenado to load the bases, but struck out Lars Nootbaar to end the game.

Cubs outfielder Cody Bellinger has been placed on the 10-day disabled list with a fractured left middle finger, the team announced on its social media.

In a related move, the Cubs have recalled outfielder Alexander Canario from the Iowa Cubs.

Bellinger’s injury occurred during Wednesday night’s game against the Orioles, when he took a ball to the hand and left the game visibly sore.

Undoubtedly, Bellinger’s loss is a major setback for the Cubs, who have won five of their last six games. Bellinger is batting .269 with a .742 OPS, hitting nine home runs and driving in 37 runs in the 2024 season so far.