Kyle Hendricks doesn't get no-hitter but enhances Cy bid with gem

Welcome to The Walk Off, the nightly MLB recap from Big League Stew. Here we’ll look at the top performers of the night, show you a must-see highlight and rundown the scoreboard. First, we start with a game you need to know about.

Kyle Hendricks has had a tremendous season on the mound for the Chicago Cubs and Monday night’s performance was his best yet.

Hendricks came three outs shy of pitching a no-hitter against the St. Louis Cardinals, giving up a solo home run to Jeremy Hazelbaker to lead off the bottom of the ninth.

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That was the end of Hendricks’ night, leaving to a rousing ovation from the many Cubs fans at Busch Stadium, and Aroldis Chapman came in to pick up the save in a 4-1 win. But even if Hendricks didn’t walk away with a no-hitter, or even a shutout, he absolutely brought more attention to his excellent year.

Who is the National League leader in ERA among qualified starters? It’s not Madison Bumgarner or Max Scherzer or Jose Fernandez. It’s Hendricks, and that ERA is down to 2.03 after this one.

How has he done it? Hendricks has given up three earned runs or fewer in 20 consecutive starts and two runs or fewer in seven straight starts.

Those are the kind of numbers that will put a pitcher in the Cy Young award conversation. And if anyone wasn’t taking Hendricks’ candidacy seriously yet, he just went out and showed why he deserves to be in the mix with a gem.

TOP PERFORMERS

Rougned Odor: Not only did Odor take a rare walk – just his 17th this season – but he came up with a huge solo home run in the top of the 12th to lift the Texas Rangers to a 4-3 win over the Houston Astros. It was one of his three hits in the game and gave him one of his three RBIs.

Chris Young: The Boston Red Sox’s lineup is so loaded that Chris Young’s contributions have been overlooked when he’s been healthy. Not in this game. Young was the offensive star in a 12-2 win against the Baltimore Orioles, going 4-for-4 with a pair of doubles and a home run.

Ezequiel Carrera: Carrera was the unlikely hero for the Toronto Blue Jays in their 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays, coming up with a pinch-hit homer in the bottom of the eighth to put his team in front. It was his fifth home run of the season.

MUST-SEE HIGHLIGHT

Before leaving the Atlanta Braves’ 12-7 win against the Miami Marlins with a groin injury, shortstop Dansby Swanson showed why he was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 MLB draft.

Swanson ranged well over to his right to field a bouncing ball hit toward the hole at short, made a terrific sliding stop and from his knees fired to second base to get the runner coming over from first. It was one heck of a defensive play from a young player who figures to be a big part of the Braves’ rebuild.

THE REST OF THE SCOREBOARD

Dodgers 8, Yankees 2: Yasiel Puig clubbed a pinch-hit home run and eight players in Los Angeles’ starting lineup recorded at least one hit.

Phillies 6, Pirates 2: Philadelphia chased Pittsburgh starter Gerrit Cole with five runs in the first two innings while Jeremy Hellickson pitched into the seventh, allowing one unearned run.

Nationals 8, Mets 1: Anthony Rendon drove in three runs, Daniel Murphy had three hits but starter Mat Latos exited after 4 1/3 innings due to right hamstring tightness.

Reds 3, Brewers 0: Scott Schebler had a two-RBI single in the first inning and Tyler Holt followed with an RBI single to give Cincinnati all the runs they’d need.

White Sox 11, Indians 4: Adam Eaton, Todd Frazier and Avisail Garcia homered as Chicago scored a run in every inning for the second time ever.

Tigers 4, Twins 2: Daniel Norris struck out a career-high 11 over 6 1/3 innings, giving up two solo home runs, as Detroit is now one game out of the second AL wild-card spot.

Athletics 16, Royals 3: Stephen Vogt reached base five times with three hits and two walks and Khris Davis and Marcus Semien hit homers.

Padres 4, Giants 0: Paul Clemens pitched five shutout innings and along with five relievers combined to blank San Francisco.

Mariners 8, Angels 1: Leonys Martin went 4-for-4 with three doubles and Robinson Cano and Ben Gamel homered to pace Seattle’s offense.

Diamondbacks 12, Rockies 9: Yasmany Tomas smashed a grand slam as part of a four hit night while Brandon Drury also had four hits and a homer.

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Israel Fehr is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at israelfehr@yahoo.ca or follow him on Twitter. Follow @israelfehr