Jason Heyward, Jason Kipnis, and Willson Contreras homered and the Chicago Cubs overcame another shaky outing by closer Craig Kimbrel to beat the Kansas City Royals 5-4 Tuesday night for their fifth straight win.
Kimbrel took over to begin the ninth inning with a 5-2 lead, but struggled again and allowed two runs and two hits while getting only one out. He's yielded six runs in 1 2/3 innings in three appearances this season.
Cubs reliever Kyle Ryan closed it out for his first save, getting Bubba Starling to ground out sharply to third baseman Kris Bryant with a runner on third to end it. Bryant made a nifty play, ranging to his right and toward the line to glove the ball before throwing to first.
Kyle Hendricks tossed seven solid innings to help the Cubs improve to 9-2, their best start through 11 games since 2016 when they went on to win the World Series.
Hendricks (2-1) allowed two runs on seven hits but walked none as he rebounded from a shaky loss last Wednesday at Cincinnati. Jeremy Jeffress pitched a perfect eighth before the Royals rallied in the ninth.
Mondesi had three hits and an RBI for the Royals, who lost their fifth straight and dropped to 3-9.
Brady Singer (0-1), making his third major league start on his 24th birthday, allowed four runs - on two-run homers by Heyward and Kipnis -and five hits, while striking out eight.
Although Jorge Soler drove in a run with a sacrifice fly, the former Cubs player failed to reach base in ending a 25-game streaking dating to last Sept. 14.
Hendricks, who pitched a three-hit shutout against Milwaukee on opening day, gave up three straight hits to open the second. The Royals stopped a 26-inning scoreless drought at Wrigley Field.
Yu Darvish (1-1, 2.70) takes the mound when the two teams meet in Kansas City on Wednesday night. Darvish tossed six scoreless innings against Pittsburgh last Friday for the win. Royals LHP Kris Bubic (0-1, 4.50) makes his second career start. He yielded three runs, all on Adam Engel's homer, in losing his major league debut to the White Sox last Friday.
