ST. LOUIS -- Kyle Hendricks was so good Monday night he even surprised himself.The right-hander took a no-hitter into the ninth inning before giving up Jeremy Hazelbakers leadoff home run, and the Chicago Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-1 to close in on the NL Central crown.I never thought Id get that close to one, Hendricks said. A guy who throws to contact and doesnt throw hard, you dont think about it. You can run into one of those special days and you think, why not?My pregame bullpen was probably the worst Ive had all year. Hopefully it clicks once the game starts, and it did.All the way until the ninth inning.Hazelbaker drove an 0-2 pitch into the right-field stands for his 12th homer before Hendricks (15-7), the major league ERA leader at 2.03, was relieved by Aroldis Chapman.If youre going to give it up, at least its that way and not a cheap hit, Hendricks said. I just left the ball up and he got it. It was just a changeup and I wanted to throw it in the dirt and get him to chase.Hazelbaker was looking for a changeup.I wasnt surprised by it, he said. Hed been throwing that pitch all night. It was a good pitch he threw me. I was able to handle it like I wanted to.Ben Zobrist and Dexter Fowler homered for the Cubs, who lowered their magic number to three for clinching the division crown. They lead the second-place Cardinals by 17 games and can wrap up the NL Central with a three-game sweep in St. Louis.The Cardinals remained a half-game behind the Mets for the leagues second wild card. New York lost 8-1 at Washington.Soon after Hazelbakers shot cleared the fence, teammates went to the mound to talk to Hendricks -- leading to an animated argument between Cubs manager Joe Maddon and plate umpire Joe West.Maddon was ejected for the third time this season, and Chapman entered to finish the one-hitter. He got three outs for his 14th save with Chicago, and is 34 for 37 overall this year with the Cubs and Yankees.After the pitching change, Maddon argued some more with West before leaving.It was a misinterpretation there, Maddon said. We needed more time there. I needed the catcher to go to the mound. We were denied. I made my stand.I truly believe I was proper in that, but this is not about that. This is Kyles night.Hendricks, who threw 96 pitches, struck out seven and walked two.Pretty special night all around, he said. It was fun, man.It was the fourth no-hit bid broken up in the ninth inning this season. Cubs teammate Jake Arrieta tossed the lone no-hitter in the majors this year, winning 16-0 at Cincinnati on April 21.Hendricks got some help from his defense, especially in the sixth.Cubs shortstop Addison Russell, deep in the hole, went to his knees on the outfield grass for a sliding stop of Jhonny Peraltas sharp grounder and made a strong throw to first.Right fielder Jason Heyward then reached into the stands to catch Hazelbakers foul fly, practically wrestling with a fan in a Cardinals jersey for the ball.He was unbelievably great, Maddon said about Hendricks. Unfortunately, he didnt get the no-hitter. They didnt have good swings against him all night. He was in charge the entire game. It was a spectacular performance. Kyle was the star.Hendricks control made him tough to hit, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said.He was pushing the corners all day long and hes been doing that most of the season and didnt give us a whole lot, Matheny said.Mike Leake (9-10) pitched six innings before being lifted for a pinch hitter. Leake, making his second start since a stint on the disabled list due to shingles, allowed six hits and four runs (three earned).Anthony Rizzo had an RBI single for the Cubs.The last time the Cubs won a division title was 2008. They did it by beating St. Louis on Sept. 20 at Wrigley Field.TRAINERS ROOMCardinals: RHP Michael Wacha (right shoulder) threw batting practice to Brayan Pena, Jose Martinez and Alberto Rosario. Wacha said he hopes to come off the disabled list Wednesday. ... LF Matt Holliday took batting practice on the field for the first time since breaking his right thumb Aug. 11 against the Cubs. ... Cardinals closer Seung Hwan Oh, who has 17 saves and a 1.87 ERA, was unavailable Saturday and Sunday against Milwaukee because of a sore groin. Speaking through translator Eugene Koo, the reliever said he would not be available Monday but should be Tuesday.UP NEXTCardinals: LHP Jaime Garcia (10-12, 4.58 ERA) makes his 29th start of the season Tuesday night, his most since 2011 when he made 32. He has started seven games against the Cubs and is 3-2 with a 2.27 ERA.Cubs: RHP Jason Hammel (14-8, 3.50) allowed nine runs -- eight earned -- and a career-high 13 hits over 5 2/3 innings in a 12-5 loss at Milwaukee last time out. He is 4-4 with a 4.80 ERA in 10 starts against the Cardinals.Cheap NFL Jerseys China . -- The Missouri Tigers might not have a roster full of superstars. NFL Jerseys Sale . - Derek Wolfe says hes finally healthy after suffering a seizure in November that doctors now believe was related to the spinal cord injury he suffered in the preseason. https://www.cheapnfljerseysjustwholesale.com/ . You can watch the game live on TSN at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt. The Flyers had won seven of eight before dropping their last two outings on consecutive days over the weekend. Philadelphia was handed a 6-3 loss by the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday afternoon before dropping a 4-1 decision to the Rangers the following night in New York City. Cheap College Jerseys . Manuel was offered a position the day he was fired. He accepted earlier this week and the team made the announcement Friday. Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys .1 million pounds ($61.2 million) on Saturday, giving the beleaguered English Premier League champions a major lift.BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- James Blackmon Jr. and the Indiana Hoosiers made quick work of overmatched Liberty.Blackmon made five 3-pointers and had 20 points to help No. 6 Indiana rout Liberty 87-48 on Saturday night.Indiana (3-0) scored the first nine points and built a 32-point lead in the first half.The game seemed like it lasted four days, Liberty coach Ritchie McKay said. I cannot remember the start.Hoosiers coach Tom Crean sure did.The most important thing for us was to get off to a really good start defensively, he said.Liberty (1-2) tried to fight back with 3-pointers, but made it worse by continually missing. The Flames were 5 of 27 (18.5 percent) from beyond the arc, including 1 of 17 (5.9 percent) in the first half. Indiana finished 9 of 21 (42.9 percent).Thats one thing we wanted to definitely focus on, no matter who were playing, play like were us and not play to the opponent, said Blackmon, who is averaging 23 points and has 14 3-pointers.Robert Johnson added 13 points for Indiana and OG Anunoby had 10 points and 11 rebounds, the first double-double of the sophomore forwards career. Anunobys energy was noticeable at both ends on back-to-back possessions when he blocked a shot three rows deep into the stands and then threw down a two-handed dunk off a rebound.Were not where we want to be, Anunoby said of the Hoosiers defense, but we know well get better.Crean had stressed the importance of rebounding before his Hoosiers seized a 55-20 advantage on the boards.Tonight, it was more about, `Lets get on the glass, Crean said. `Lets get on the glass offensively. Lets get on the glass defensively. Lets make sure our effort and energy is really good there.Crean thought his teams season-opening trip to Hawaii eight days ago had his players jet-lagged earlier in the week. The legs weere fresher against the Flames as the Hoosiers hounded Liberty into 26 turnovers.ddddddddddddWe try to be disruptive in passing lanes and box out and just pressure the ball, Anunoby said.Libertys John Dawson, who entered with a team-best 14.5-point average, scored just two points on 1-of-7 shooting. No Liberty player scored in double digits.McKay was overly effusive in his praise of the Hoosiers.Indiana is really impressive, the coach said. I sat on an ACC bench the last six years and saw a lot of quality teams and Indiana is as good as I have seen in years.They have everything; size, depth, strength, skill, unselfishness. That is a terrific team.ADVANTAGE BY 3SIndiana has made 35 of 79 3-pointers (44.3 percent) with eight different players contributing at least one basket from long range. In addition to Blackmons 14, Johnson, Anunoby and Curtis Jones each have four. Hoosiers opponents have made just 21 of 71 3-pointers (29.6 percent).INDIANA CLASSICIndiana improved to 2-0 in its four-team tournament, which also includes UMass Lowell and Fort Wayne. The Hoosiers drubbed UMass Lowell 100-78 on Wednesday.BIG PICTURELiberty: The Flames have never knocked off a Top 25 team in 14 tries and have never defeated a Big Ten foe in four meetings, so its not as if they expected to pull off an upset. They can bounce back with two winnable home games.Indiana: Its all about staying perfect against inferior competition as the Hoosiers inch closer to a Nov. 30 home showdown against No. 5 North Carolina.UP NEXTLiberty: Host UMass Lowell on Monday.Indiana: At Fort Wayne on Tuesday.---More AP college basketball: www.collegebasketball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25 ' ' '
