Cubbies Game Recap August 30th, 2015 - aka Cyle Hendricks Rocks!!!

I wasn't planning on going to this game.  In fact Rohit and I had bought tickets to the 8/31/16 game vs the Pirates months ago.  But on Tuesday morning Rohit noticed that ticket prices were pretty low and we both wanted to see Hendricks pitch.  

The last time I had seen Hendricks pitch at Wrigley was at the beginning of August and he'd thrown his complete game shut out against the Marlins.  So yeah my expectations were high ;)

Since it was a last minute decision to go I had to run home to get Cubs gear.  I didn't know it when I bought those red Ann Taylor shorts but I think I've worn them the most this year!!

 We got seats in section 17, I thought we'd be more off to the side but we were basically slightly left of home plate.

We were in Row 5 which at Wrigley really means row 10.  IT WAS AWESOME!!

All of the Cubs scoring though came in the first two innings.  Baez was getting a rare start a the lead off hitter.  

 

Baez got hit by a pitch in his hand.  Man that had to of hurt!!  After KB got out it was Rizzo's turn.  I had a good feeling since he hadn't really had any homers in the month of August.

Yep I was right, me smiling after he hit a two run homer.  

Oh I tried a new to me food at Wrigley!  I'd always seen the bison dogs cart but never actually ordered.  Maybe because it's cash only?  This Bison Italian Sausage was amazing (but messy).  

Here's a shot of Matt Szczur cuz you know I love the guy.  He ended up with one hit during the game but got stranded on base. 

I love Kyle but I think he feels inconvenienced about actually having to go out and hit.  He must hate it, but not sure why???

Guess who this is based on his batting stance....yeah it's KB!

Kyle didn't give up a hit until the 5th inning.  Everyone at Wrigley definitely noticed.  After the hit a good number of people stood to give him a nice round of applause.

He ended up pitching for 7 innings and giving up 3 hits and no runs.  He lowered his ERA to 2.09!!!  

Since we were sitting so close the most fun was seeing the Pirates just shaking their heads at some called strikes.  He definitely seemed to be puzzling them! 

At the end of the 7th inning Kyle got a nice round of applause from the fans.  He was at 99 pitches so I guess everyone figured he was done.  

In the 13 inning game the night before Carl Edwards Jr. was the only reliever NOT used, so I was pretty sure we'd see him today.  He was hitting 97 mph and was really impressive too!  

The 9th inning of course meant.....

....CHAPMAN!!!!

His intro is fun but I miss Rondon's too.  Oh well maybe next year?

It's always fun to watch the crowd react to Chapman's pitches.  There is always oohing and ahhing as he hits anything over 100 mph.  I don't think it's every going to get old!

Chapman got his 3 outs pretty uneventfully so then we were celebrating the W!

Gotta take the obligator Cubs win selfie!!!

You can't really tell in that pic but that's Chapman and Maddon hugging.  It's pretty funny how often these grown men hug!

 

The game didn't have much offensive excitement after those first two innings so that's probably why the Game Changing Player was....

.....CYLE HENDRICKS!!!!

 Here is a replay of his pick off that I forgot to even mention!  Kyle picked off Harrison (whom he had walked) at first base.  Later Miggy would catch Marte stealing at 2nd base.  Because of those two moves Kyle only pitched to the minimum through 4 innings.

Seeing Rizzo FINALLY hit a 2nd August homerun, the pick off and the caught stealing, watching Kyle pitch effortless for 7 innings, so many great memories to add to the collection for 2016!