Kyle Hendricks sharp in what may have been Cubs' finale, 3-0 win over Reds

CHICAGO (AP) —

Kyle Hendricks waved to appreciative fans after what may have been his final start for the Cubs, and Chicago beat the Cincinnati Reds 3-0 on Saturday as Isaac Paredes and Pete Crow-Armstrong had run-scoring singles in a three-run eighth inning.

Hendricks allowed only only a pair of singles, one an infield hit, and walked two over 7 1/3 innings on an afternoon with a strong wind blowing in from the northeast at Wrigley Field. The 34-year-old right-hander struck out two and retired 11 in a row in one stretch.

A member of the Cubs' 2016 World Series champions, Hendricks can become a free agent after completing a contract worth $70 million over five seasons. He was hugged by teammates before leaving the mound, then got an ovation from the crowd of 38,180. He came out of the dugout after the game to wave to fans.

“You feel all the emotions, man, feel so lucky,” Hendricks said. “I'm so happy. I had my whole family here today up in the stands. I'm sure they're crying.

“Just for the fans to give me that, from the moment I showed up at the ballpark today kind of celebrating me. Part of me hates it. I hate all the attention. But at the end I have to soak in all these moments.”

Hendricks has spent all 11 of his major league seasons with the Cubs. He become a staple in their rotation after debuting in 2014, although a shoulder injury hindered him in 2022 and 2023 and he was demoted to the bullpens.

“I just tried my best to stay locked onto the task at hand,” Hendricks said,

Dansby Swanson doubled off Buck Farmer (3-2) starting the eighth. Justin Wilson relieved, Cody Bellinger singled and Seiya Suzuki was intentionally walked.

Paredes pinch hit and looped a single to center to drive in the first run. After Pete Crow-Armstrong's RBI single, Mike Tauchman drew a bases-loaded walk.

Tyson Milller (5-1) got two outs in the eighth, and Porter Hodge pitched a perfect ninth for his ninth save in 12 chances, finishing a three-hitter.

Cubs manager Craig Counsell sent pitching coach Tommy Hottovy to the mound to pull Hendricks after he reached 81 pitches. That gesture was significant to the righty, whose teammates later assembled a pyramid of 22 baseballs — one for each of his outs on Saturday — in front of his locker.

“Tommy's meant so much to me,” Hendricks said. “He seen literally every single pitch, every single bullpen I've thrown. He's been here the whole time. I can't thank him enough just for sticking with me.”

Hendricks, 97-81 for his career, finished 4-12 with a 5.92 ERA this season, He plans to keep pitching and would like to stay with Chicago, but seems resigned to moving on to another team.

“The door isn't closed here, but just the way most things happen, it's most likely going to end up being somewhere else,” Hendricks said.

Cincinnati has lost five in a row. The Reds were shut out for the 16th time and held to three hits or fewer for the 20th time.

“The offense has been dormant here the last couple of days,” Reds interim manager Freddie Benavides said. “Vintage Hendricks today. Just put the ball in play. I think we had, what, around 10 flyball outs, so it's something that we can't do with the conditions here.”

Reds starter Rhett Lowder allowed three hits in five innings. The 22-year-old right-hander, the seventh overall pick in last year's amateur draft, debuted on Aug. 30 and went 2-2 with a 1.17 ERA in six starts. He struck out 22 and walked 14 in 30 2/3 innings, and he didn't allow a home run.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cubs: Suzuki was 2 for 2 with two walks as a DH after missing two games with a sprained right ankle.

UP NEXT

Reds RHP Hunter Greene (9-5, 2.83) will start Sunday's season finale.

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Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Rhett Lowder delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell, left, and bench coach Ryan Flaherty look out over the field during the third inning of a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell looks out over the field during the third inning of a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Chicago Cubs' Isaac Paredes hits a pinch-hit RBI single off Cincinnati Reds relief pitcher Justin Wilson during the eighth inning of a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Chicago Cubs catcher Miguel Amaya shakes hands with starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks after the top half of the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks tips his cap to the Wrigley Field fans after being pulled in the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks steps out of the dugout for a curtain call after being pulled in the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks steps out of the dugout for a curtain call after being pulled in the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell, left, congratulates starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks after the team's 3-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds in a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks acknowledger the crowds applause after the team's 3-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds in a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks applauds the crowd after the team's 3-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds in a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks tips his cap to the Wrigley Field fans after being pulled in the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks acknowledger the crowds applause after the team's 3-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds in a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

PRAIRIE DU CHIEN, Wis. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump meandered Saturday through a list of grievances against Vice President Kamala Harris and other issues during an event intended to link his Democratic opponent to illegal border crossings.

A day after Harris discussed immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border, Trump spoke to a crowd in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, about immigration. He blamed Harris for migrants committing crimes after entering the U.S. illegally, alleging she was responsible for “erasing our border.”

“I will liberate Wisconsin from the mass migrant invasion,” he said. “We’re going to liberate the country.”

Trump hopes frustration over illegal immigration will translate to votes in Wisconsin and other crucial swing states. The Republican nominee has denounced people who cross the U.S.-Mexico border as “poisoning the blood of the country” and vowed to stage the largest deportation operation in American history if elected. And polls show Americans believe Trump would do a better job than Harris on handling immigration.

Trump shifted from topic to topic so quickly that it was hard to keep track of what he meant at times. He talked about the two assassination attempts against him and blamed the U.S. Secret Service for not being able to hold a large outdoor rally instead of an event in a smaller indoor space. But he also offered asides about climate change, Harris' father, how his beach body was better than President Joe Biden's, and a fly that was buzzing near him.

“I wonder where the fly came from,” he said. "Two years ago, I wouldn’t have had a fly up here. You’re changing rapidly. But we can’t take it any longer. We can’t take it any longer.”

Trump repeatedly brought up Harris' Friday event in Douglas, Arizona, where she announced a push to further restrict asylum claims beyond Biden's executive order announced earlier this year. Harris denounced Trump's handling of the border while president and his opposing a bipartisan border package earlier this year, saying Trump “prefers to run on a problem instead of fixing a problem.”

“I had to sit there and listen" to Harris last night Trump said, eliciting cheers. “And who puts it on? Fox News. They should not be allowed to put it on. It’s all lies. Everything she says is lies.”

The Republican nominee also intensified his personal attacks against Harris, insulting her as “mentally impaired” and a “disaster.”

Trump professed not to understand what Harris meant when she said he was responsible for taking children from their parents. Under his administration, border agents separated children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border in a policy that was condemned globally as inhumane and one that Trump himself ended under pressure from his own party.

Harris, at a rally in San Francisco, told supporters there were “two very different visions for our nation” and voters see it “every day on the campaign trial.”

“Donald Trump is the same old tired show,” she said. “The same tired playbook we have heard for years.”

She Trump was “a very unserious man." “However the consequences of putting him back in the White House are extremely serious.”

At Trump's event, on either side of the stage were poster-sized mug shots of men in the U.S. illegally accused of a crime, including Alejandro Jose Coronel Zarate, a case Trump cited in his speech.

Wisconsin Republicans in recent days have cited the story of Coronel Zarate's arrest in Prairie du Chien as more evidence that people in the country illegally are committing crimes across the United States, not just in southern border states. Prosecutors charged Coronel Zarate on Sept. 18 with sexual assault, child abuse, strangulation and domestic abuse. His lawyers declined to comment.

Police Chief Kyle Teynor posted statements on Facebook saying that Coronel Zarate is not a U.S. citizen and that he had two fake immigration documents, including a fake Social Security card. The chief added that Coronel Zarate’s tattoos indicate he’s affiliated with the Tren de Aragua gang, which started in Venezuelan prisons and is posing a growing threat in the U.S.

Speaking to the crowd Saturday, Teynor stressed to the crowd that Coronel Zarate is the only Venezuelan gang member his agency has encountered, but the violence his two alleged victims suffered at his hands earlier this month was very real.

Republicans including U.S. Sen. Derrick Van Orden, who is from Prairie du Chien, have criticized authorities in both Minneapolis and Madison for letting Coronel Zarate go, saying they essentially allowed him to attack the woman in Prairie du Chien. They have accused both jurisdictions of being sanctuaries for people in the country illegally.

Van Orden told the crowd Trump was the only one who could restore order.

“You’re going to see the one man who has enough strength and courage of conviction to stand up to anyone up to and including being shot in the head for us," he said.

Long reported from Washington. Associated Press Writer Will Weissert reported from San Francisco.

Supporters cheer as Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Prairie du Chien, Wis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a rally, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Prairie du Chien, Wis. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Prairie du Chien, Wis. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Supporters wait for Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump to arrive at a rally, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Prairie du Chien, Wis. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Supporters wait for Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump to arrive at a rally, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Prairie du Chien, Wis. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Merchandise vendor Sam Smith, of Sarasota, Fla., stands with his dog Milo while waiting for Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump to arrive at a rally, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Prairie du Chien, Wis. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

A supporter waits for Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump to arrive at a rally, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Prairie du Chien, Wis. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

A supporter waits for Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump to arrive at a rally, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Prairie du Chien, Wis. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Supporters pose for a photo while waiting for Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump to arrive at a rally, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Prairie du Chien, Wis. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives for a town hall event at Macomb Community College Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, in Warren, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)