Hendricks earns majors-best 13th win as Cubs beat Nats, 6-3

WASHINGTON (AP) — Kyle Hendricks earned his major league-leading 13th victory, Rafael Ortega homered and the Chicago Cubs beat the Washington Nationals 6-3 Saturday night.

The Cubs, who had dropped four in a row, made six trades prior to Friday’s deadline, scattering Javier Báez, Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo and Craig Kimbrel and others to contenders.

Hendricks (13-4) won his 11th straight decision in a 15-start stretch. He was part of the franchise’s 2016 World Series championship, is signed through 2023 and is one of the team's most recognizable remaining players.

The right-hander pitched seven innings, allowing a run on four hits while striking out three.

Joe Ross (5-9) allowed five runs in 4 1/3 innings for Washington, which lost for the first time since completing a deadline sale of their own that shipped out Max Scherzer, Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner, among others. The Nats beat the Cubs on Friday night.

The Nationals went 8-18 in July, their worst record in a month when they played more than one game since going 8-19 in June 2010.

Chicago took the lead in the fourth. Sergio Alcántara drove in a run on a one-out single and scored on Andrew Romine’s double. Ortega then homered to center with two down to bump the margin to 5-1.

Jason Heyward added an RBI single in the seventh. It was the first time since July 16 that Heyward drove in a run, a span of 46 at-bats.

With Hendricks out of the game, the Nationals pounced on Rex Brothers for three hits and a walk to open the eighth. Codi Heuer, making his Cubs debut a day after coming over from the Chicago White Sox in the Kimbrel deal, allowed only Carter Kieboom's sacrifice fly that made it 6-3 while otherwise escaping the bases-loaded jam.

Kyle Ryan worked the ninth for his first save.

Ortega opened the scoring in...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Hendricks-earns-majors-best-13th-win-as-Cubs-beat-16355181.php