HOUSTON (AP) Kyle Hendricks and Joe Musgrove each wrapped up successful springs with solid starts on Friday.
Hendricks yielded two hits and struck out three over five scoreless innings to help the Chicago Cubs beat the Houston Astros 6-3 in the last tuneup for the teams before opening day.
Musgrove allowed three hits with four strikeouts over four scoreless innings for Houston.
Hendricks, who led the majors with a 2.13 ERA last season, posted a 2-0 record with a 1.66 ERA in six starts this spring for the reigning World Series champions.
Carlos Correa singled off Hendricks to start the second inning before he walked Josh Reddick. But Hendricks allowed just one runner after that, on a single by George Springer in the third.
''That was the only (spot) over the five innings where I didn't lose it but for two, three hitters there it wasn't sharp,'' Hendricks said of the first two batters in the second inning. ''Once I got that popup it came right back and I got back into the groove. As the game went the fourth inning was good and my fifth was probably my best inning. So to finish strong I was happy with that.''
The 24-year-old Musgrove finished the spring 3-0 with a 2.08 ERA in seven starts and enters the season as Houston's fourth starter.
''That's definitely what you're looking for in the spring is to have a last outing like that,'' Musgrove said. ''I was really pleased with everything (Friday). Slider was sharp. I had good fastball command. I was most pleased with my ability to command the top of the strike zone which is huge for me.''
It will be the first time he's opened the season in the majors after going 4-4 with a 4.06 ERA in 11 outings as a rookie last year after being called up in August.
After Musgrove left the game, the Cubs tagged reliever Tony Sipp for three runs in the fifth and got another one off Ken Giles in the inning to take a 4-0 lead.
Matt Szczur and Ian Happ added an RBI apiece off Will Harris in the Chicago seventh.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Cubs: SS Addison Russell was in the lineup for the second straight day after missing more than a week because of soreness in his back. He went 0 for 2 after homering and driving in three runs on Thursday night.
UP NEXT
Cubs: LHP Jon Lester will start when Chicago opens the season on Sunday night at St. Louis. He went 19-7 with a 2.44 ERA in 32 starts last season.
Astros: Lefty Dallas Keuchel is set to start Monday when the Astros open against Seattle. Keuchel, the 2015 AL Cy Young award winner, is looking to bounce back after a disappointing 2016 where he went 9-12 with a 4.55 ERA.
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