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Kyle Hendricks throws 8 shutout innings against SF Giants in 4-0 Cubs victory

Kyle Hendricks came close to a no-hitter against the SF Giants on Saturday, but will settle for leading the Chicago Cubs to a win.

Marc Delucchi

Kyle Hendricks throws 8 shutout innings against SF Giants in 4-0 Cubs victory
Kyle Hendricks throws 8 shutout innings against SF Giants in 4-0 Cubs victory /
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The SF Giants lost to the Chicago Cubs 4-0 in a late afternoon game on Saturday. The Giants fell to 32-32 on the season and have once again stumbled at home after a successful road trip. After Marcus Stroman outdueled Anthony DeSclafani on Friday night, Cubs right-handed pitcher Kyle Hendricks fell just shy of no-hitting the Giants. Hendricks only racked up three strikeouts but surrendered just one hit and one walk across eight shutout innings.

SF Giants relief pitcher Jakob Junis throws a pitch against the Chicago Cubs on June 10, 2023.
SF Giants RHP Jakob Junis throws a pitch against the Cubs on June 10, 2023 / Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

John Brebbia got the start in a Giants bullpen game, and the righty remained effective as a short-outing starter. Brebbia delivered two perfect innings of work before he was lifted for righty Jakob Junis.

Giants manager Gabe Kapler may have hoped for a prolonged outing from Junis, but he struggled to find his release point. Junis surrendered a solo home run to Matt Mervis, who crushed a 1-1 slider well over 400' to right-center field.

While a Michael Conforto walk gave the Giants their lone baserunner for the first seven innings of the game, Hendricks did surrender several hard-hit balls. Joc Pederson, Mike Yastrzemski, and Blake Sabol all hit flyouts in the first three innings that would have been home runs at least one other MLB ballpark, per Statcast. Brandon Crawford lined what seemed like a surefire extra-base hit to right-center field, but former Giants outfielder Mike Tauchman made an amazing catch to rob him of extra bases.

But rather than breaking through against Hendricks the second time through the order, the Giants were even more stymied against the wily veteran. Hendricks is a far different pitcher than he was at the peak of his career, but the 33-year-old righty is one of the few starters in MLB who can be effective without a fastball that reaches 90 mph.

Hendricks threw his four-seam fastball and sinker roughly three out of every four pitches, occasionally mixing in a changeup to keep hitters off balance. Despite his seemingly inadequate arsenal, Hendricks' elite ability to paint the corners with all three of his offerings allows him to induce a ton of soft contact when he's at his best.

Home plate umpire Jacob Metz had a pitcher-friendly zone all game long, which benefitted pitchers on both teams. However, with Hendricks' pinpoint command on full display, it put him in a position to make history.

The Giants have never been no-hit at Oracle Park in the stadium's history. With two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning and Hendricks' pitch count still south of 95 pitches, Giants left fielder Mitch Haniger made sure it stayed that way with a double off the left-center field wall.

Junis' inconsistent performance continued in the fourth and fifth innings. Christopher Morel jumped on a hanging breaking ball for his 10th home run of the year, a rare opposite-field blast from a right-handed hitter at Oracle Park. Then, in the fifth, Junis surrendered two more runs on a pair of hits and a walk before he was replaced by Sean Manaea.

Manaea was much more effective than Junis, breezing through 4.1 no-hit innings of his own, but the damage had already been done.

With Hendrick's no-hit bid over, Cubs manager David Ross called upon Julian Merryweather to close things out for Chicago. He retired the Giants in order.

The SF Giants will look to avoid getting swept at home on Sunday afternoon. They have not announced their starting pitcher for the game, but the Cubs will be sending Hayden Wesneski to the mound. Wesneski has a 4.72 ERA in 47.2 innings pitched this season.

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Marc Delucchi
MARC DELUCCHI

Marc Delucchi (he/they/she) serves as the Managing Editor at Giants Baseball Insider, leading their SF Giants coverage. As a freelance journalist, he has previously covered the San Francisco Giants at Around the Foghorn and McCovey Chronicles. He also currently contributes to Niners Nation, Golden State of Mind, and Baseball Prospectus. He has previously been featured in several other publications, including SFGate, ProFootballRumors, Niners Wire, GrandStand Central, Call to the Pen, and Just Baseball. Over his journalistic career, Marc has conducted investigations into how one prep baseball player lost a college opportunity during the pandemic (Baseball Prospectus) and the rampant mistreatment of players at the University of Hawaii football program under former head coach Todd Graham (SFGate). He has also broken dozens of news stories around professional baseball, primarily around the SF Giants organization, including the draft signing of Kyle Harrison, injuries and promotions to top prospects like Heliot Ramos, and trade details in the Kris Bryant deal. Marc received a Bachelor's degree from Kenyon College with a major in economics and a minor in Spanish. During his time in college, he conducted a summer research project attempting to predict the future minor-league performance of NCAA hitters, worked as a data analyst for the school's Women's basketball team, and worked as a play-by-play announcer/color commentator for the basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams. He also worked as an amateur baseball scout with the Collegiate Baseball Scouting Network (later renamed Evolution Metrix), scouting high school and college players for three draft cycles. For tips and inquiries, feel free to reach out to Marc directly on Twitter or via email (delucchimarc@gmail.com).

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