Liam Hendricks (33-Chicago White Sox) returned to the mound after battling blood cancer and earned a save on National Cancer Survivors Day.
Hendricks entered the game in the top of the ninth inning of a 2-2 tie against the Detroit Tigers in Major League Baseball’s 2023 World Series at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., on Thursday (April 4) and pitched one perfect inning, allowing no hits and striking out two.
His fastball touched 95 miles per hour.
Jake Berger hit a go-ahead home run in the bottom of the ninth to give the White Sox a 6-2 victory.
It was Hendricks’ third win in three games since returning.
As a closer, Hendricks has a career major league record of 32-34, 115 saves, 42 holds, and a 3.82 ERA.
Hendricks’ first post-cancer win and 32nd career victory coincidentally came on American Cancer Survivors Day.
National Cancer Survivors Day is observed on the first Sunday in June to share a message of hope that “life can be rebuilt after a cancer diagnosis.
“Hendricks was deeply moved by the special day,” MLB.com reported.
“I will continue to move forward,” Hendricks said. I’m going to get back out there and throw like I used to and hopefully be an inspiration to others who are battling cancer,” Hendricks said.
Teammate Michael Kopec said, “After Hendricks struck out, he did his old routine of pumping his fist and cheering. That’s what we’ve come to expect from him,” said teammate Michael Kopeck.
Hendricks was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a type of blood cancer, in January of this year.
After more than three months of chemotherapy, Hendricks was declared cancer-free and returned to the big leagues on March 30th.먹튀검증
He struggled in his first start, giving up two runs on three hits in one inning, but followed that up with one hitless inning in each of his next two appearances.
Hendricks has overcome cancer and is on his way back to being a top closer. He proved it on Cancer Survivor’s Day when he threw a fastball up to 156 miles per hour.