ST. LOUIS (AP) _ Kyle Hendricks took a no-hitter into the ninth inning before
giving up Jeremy Hazelbaker’s leadoff home run, and the Chicago Cubs beat the
St. Louis Cardinals 4-1 Monday night to close in on the NL Central crown.
Hazelbaker drove an 0-2 pitch into the right-field stands for his 12th homer
this season. Hendricks, the major league ERA leader, was relieved by Aroldis
Chapman.
“Just left that one up right there. What are you going to do?” Hendricks
said.
Ben Zobrist and Dexter Fowler homered for the Cubs, who lowered their magic
number to three for clinching the division crown. They lead the second-place
Cardinals by 17 games.
Soon after Hazelbaker’s shot cleared the fence, teammates went to the mound to
talk to Hendricks _ leading to an argument between Cubs manager Joe Maddon and
plate umpire Joe West.
Maddon was ejected, and Chapman came in.
Game two of the three-game series is Tuesday night. Jaime Garcia (10-12) starts
for the Cardinals while Jason Hammel (14-8) goes for the Cubs. Game time is 7:15
with the pre-game at 6:20 on KTLO-AM.
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