 threw 5 2/3 scoreless innings of relief, retiring 14 of his final 15 batters. He struck out six and walked none.Quantrill took over for Adrian Morejon, who allowed one run and three hits in 2 1/3 innings as the opener in his major league debut. Morejon, 20, is the second-youngest pitcher to debut with the Padres. The left-hander went 0-4 with a 4.25 ERA in 16 starts at Double-A Amarillo before his call-up.Kirby Yates struck out three in the ninth to work around a Rizzo single.Pinch hitter Greg Garcia was hit by a pitch from Carl Edwards Jr. to bring in a run in the ninth after Kyle Ryan allowed a walk and a bunt single. Tatis followed with a two-run single. Edwards was making his first appearance since June 9 after spending time on the IL for a thoracic strain.Hendricks (7-8) gave up four hits in his longest start since he came off the IL July 2. His home ERA increased to 1.89.Javier Baez singled, advanced to third on Kris Bryant's blooper near the right-field line and scored on Rizzo's groundout to give the Cubs the lead in the first.The Padres tied the game in the fifth when Luis Urias drew a walk, advanced on a sacrifice and scored on Tatis' single.Mejia hit his fourth home run on a full count against Hendricks to lead off the seventh and put the Padres ahead 2-1.The Padres were hitless until Eric Hosmer got on base in the fourth after sliding headfirst on a grounder to second. The Padres haven't been swept at Wrigley Field since May 2012.WEATHER UPDATEAfter the heat climbed into the 90s Saturday, the first-pitch temperature was 72 Sunday. Rain delayed the start of the game 32 minutes.TRAINER'S ROOMPadres: The contracts of RHP Michel Baez and Morejon were selected from Double-A Amarillo. OF Josh Naylor and RHP Trey Wingenter were optioned to Triple-A El Paso. To make room on the 40-man roster, RHP Adam Warren (right forearm strain) was transferred to the 60-day IL and RHP Miguel Diaz (left knee surgery) was recalled from Triple-A and transferred to the 60-day IL.Cubs: Manager Joe Maddon said LHP Cole Hamels (left oblique strain) was doing well after he threw a bullpen session Saturday for the first time since going on the IL June 29. The team is discussing the next step for Hamels. ... C Willson Contreras (right foot strain) will possibly be activated Wednesday, when he is eligible to come off the IL, Maddon said.UP NEXTPadres: A starter has yet to be announced for Tuesday's series opener against the Mets and LHP Jason Vargas (4-5, 4.25 ERA).Cubs: RHP Alex Mills (0-0, 4.50) starts Monday at San Francisco against the Giants and RHP Shaun Anderson (3-2, 4.87) in the opener of a three-game series. Mills allowed three runs in six innings in his season debut Tuesday.)
Scuffling Padres face Cubs' Hendricks in finaleFLMAs Kyle Hendricks looks to continue his progression from a bout of right shoulder inflammation, he has the ideal team awaiting him in a series finale at Wrigley Field on Sunday.Hendricks will face a San Diego Padres team on a much cooler afternoon after a scorching Chicago weekend, looking to raise the heat on his team's hot start to the second half.After Saturday's victory over the Padres, the Cubs are 7-1 since the second half began and are poised for a sweep against a Padres team has been exactly opposite. San Diego is 1-7 in the second half, essentially frittering away any momentum that figured to come from three consecutive victories over the Los Angeles Dodgers when the first half ended.Hendricks (7-7, 3.46 ERA) is 0-2 since returning from the injured list on July 2, but he has not given up more than two runs in any of his three starts since then and has raised his pitch count in each outing. After throwing 94 pitches in a no-decision against the Cincinnati Reds on Monday, the right-hander should be pitch-count free.He gave up home runs to both Yasiel Puig and Eugenio Suarez in that meeting against the Reds, but said afterward he was closer to feeling like his usual self."It comes down to keeping the same focus and making good pitches," Hendricks said, according to MLB.com. "I just made two pitches I didn't get away with." That game against the Reds is the only one the Cubs have lost in the second half. And if history is any indicator, the odds say the Cubs' chances at continuing their second-half success is strong.Hendricks is 5-1 with a 3.04 ERA in eight career starts against the Padres. In four career starts against the National League West foe at Wrigley Field, he is 2-0 with a 2.84 ERA.The Padres will counter Sunday with right-hander Cal Quantrill (2-2, 4.21), who will follow opener Adrian Morejon, who will make his major league debut. Quantrill will be making his 13th career appearance, his first at Wrigley Field, and his ninth career start.Moved from the bullpen back into the Padres' rotation on July 3, the 24-year old Quantrill is coming off his best start of the season, when he delivered six scoreless innings on three hits against the Atlanta Braves last Sunday. But the Braves went to work on the San Diego bullpen to earn a 4-1 victory.That loss came a day after dependable All-Star closer Kirby Yates coughed up the lead in a loss, showing that nothing is quite right for the Padres since the second half began. On Saturday, San Diego had a lead in the fourth inning before Javier Baez hit a three-run home run off left-hander Joey Lucchesi.Mostly, it has been a bevy of errors that have been costly to the Padres since the second half started. Rookie Fernando Tatis Jr. has six of them, including four in his last three games."I think a couple of young guys playing really fast, trying to do special things, and sometimes those plays just aren't there," Padres manager Andy Green said, according to MLB.com. "If you're going to make mistakes in the field, mistakes of aggression are the better kind of mistakes. I think (they) are going to continue to learn and continue to grow." --Field Level Media
Looking for More Picks?
You can browse all the individual handicapper picks below.
San Diego Padres
Chicago Cubs
Pick Center
MLB
FINAL (7/21/2019)
BestBets
