ANAHEIM, Calif. — Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner gave the visitors’ dugout a thumbs-up from second base after hitting a line drive into the left-field gap to win a battle against former teammate Kyle Hendricks in the fourth inning.

Hendricks, backing up home plate as Ian Happ scored, took a breath and strode back to the mound. Hoerner, who had nodded to Hendricks before his first at-bat, caught a glimpse of a meaningful look from the right-hander.

“Always kind of funky when you face someone you know well, especially somebody you’ve had a lot of baseball conversations with,” Hoerner said after the Cubs’ 4-3 victory Sunday against the Angels. “I’m super happy for him that he’s getting a chance to pitch here, close to where he grew up, and that’s pretty cool for him to share with his family. He’s awesome.”

The Cubs finished a three-game sweep to kick off a three-city trip. And after a lopsided victory Saturday, they found a different way to win the next day: holding tight to a lead in a low-scoring game.

Their first challenge was facing Hendricks for the first time since his Cubs tenure came to a close this offseason. He was charged with four runs in 4⅓ innings, two of the runs scored after he handed the ball over to another former Cub, left-handed reliever Andrew Chafin.

“The first two innings, especially, he gave us kind of nothing to hit,” manager Craig Counsell said.

“You have to kind of paper-cut Kyle. That’s just how it’s going to work because he’s never going to give in.”

They made their first cut in the third inning, when rookie Matt Shaw’s ground-rule double set up Kyle Tucker for an RBI single.

In the fourth, Happ, the longest-tenured Cub since Hendricks’ departure, drew his second walk off Hendricks.

Then Hoerner fouled off three pitches in his clutch at-bat before getting a changeup at the top of the zone that he could drive.

Happ rounded the bases and called out to Hendricks as he passed him on the way home, “That might have been in there,” referring to the 2-2 fastball in his first at-bat that appeared to clip the zone.

According to Happ, Hendricks joked back, “I’m scared of you.”

Pitching opposite Hendricks was another former teammate, righty Jameson Taillon.

Taillon gave up a first-inning home run to Taylor Ward, his 30th of the season. But after that, Taillon didn’t surrender another run or extra-base hit, limiting the Angels to three hits in five innings.

“Our starting pitching has been really good,” Counsell said. “They’re keeping us in games, giving us a chance to win games. And Jamo delivered one today, same thing. Coming back off the IL after a pretty long stint, having a couple of good starts in big games, very meaningful.”

Taillon, however, five days removed from a seven-week stint on the injured list for a strained right calf, hit another bump in the road.

Warming up for the fifth after the Cubs had rallied for two runs in the inning, Taillon said he felt a “little crampy sensation” in his left groin. Counsell pulled him after the inning to be safe.

Taillon was encouraged, hoping that he had caught it early enough to avoid missing time. But the Cubs will be monitoring his recovery.

“That’s frustrating,” Taillon said. “Today felt like one of those days where I had everything working, and it felt like I was going to go seven innings. And unfortunate to have to leave early.”

Reliever Andrew Kittredge took over and allowed two runs (one earned) and two hits. An error by shortstop Dansby Swanson on a grounder allowed Ward to score the Angels’ third run.

As Hendricks walked to the dugout in the fifth inning, he received an ovation from a whole range of fans in the stadium, regardless of team affiliation. Those clad in Cubbie blue rose to their feet to give him a warm send-off.