Kyle Tucker went 1-for-3 with two walks, a run scored and an RBI, while Nico Hoerner doubled and had two hits and an RBI as the Chicago Cubs completed a three-game series sweep of the Los Angeles Angels with a 4-3 victory on Sunday afternoon in Anaheim, Calif.
Matt Shaw also had a double, two hits and run scored for Chicago, which won for the sixth time in seven games and closed to within five games of the first-place Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central Division.
Jameson Taillon (9-6) picked up the victory, allowing one run on three hits over five innings while striking out three. Daniel Palencia struck out the side in the ninth, including Christian Moore and Bryce Teodosio on 100-mph fastballs with runners on first and second, to earn his 20th save.
Taylor Ward went 2-for-4 with a home run, double, two runs scored and two RBIs for Los Angeles, which lost for the fifth time in the last six games.
Kyle Hendricks (6-9), who made 270 starts in 11 seasons with Chicago and played a key role on their 2016 World Series champion team, allowed four runs on five hits in 4 1/3 innings in his first career start against the Cubs. He walked three and struck out two.
Los Angeles took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on Ward’s career-best 30th home run, a 400-foot drive to left.
Chicago tied it, 1-1, in the third when Shaw hit a ground-rule double down the left field line, advanced to third on a groundout and scored on Tucker’s single to left.
The Cubs took a 2-1 lead in the fourth on an RBI double into the gap in left-center by Hoerner, driving in Ian Happ who had walked.
Chicago extended the lead to 4-1 in the fifth. Busch and Seiya Suzuki sandwiched singles around a walk to Tucker to load the bases. Busch then scored on a sacrifice fly to right by Pete Crow-Armstrong with Tucker tagging and advancing to third. Tucker then came around on Carson Kelly’s single.
The Angels scored twice off reliever Andrew Kittredge in the sixth to close to within a run on an RBI double by Ward, driving in Zach Neto who had singled and stole second, and a fielding error by shortstop Dansby Swanson, allowing Ward to score from third.
