Cubs hold off Nationals |
CHICAGO—For the final time in 2024, the Chicago Cubs (78-75) will play a game under the Wrigley Field lights, as their final six home games will be afternoon contests. Coming off a rough series against the Oakland A's, in which the Cubs dropped the final two games, Chicago was looking to get back on track as they welcomed the Washington Nationals (68-85) to town for the first of four.
This game had a bit of everything as the Cubs fell behind not once, not twice, but three times, only to battle back each time. It was their final time battling back that proved to be the difference as an Isaac Paredes grounder pushed across the winning run and gave the Cubs a 7-6 victory. Javier Assad has had a good season for the Cubs, as he remains one of their more reliable starters. Entering the game with a sub-3.4 ERA, Assad is very unorthodox in how he has his success, as he often pitches better with men on base than when the bases are empty. You continued to see that tonight, although he did give up a few more runs than normal as he gave the Cubs five innings of three-run ball, walking and one striking out five. Assad had one of those starts where he wasn't sharp early, and it took him a bit to settle in. Look no further than the first inning when CJ Abrams led things off with one of his four hits, and he eventually stole second and third. A one-out walk to James Wood put runners on the corners, but knowing how many times Assad has been able to work out jams like this, the Cubs felt good about the spot they were in. That was until the Andres Chaparro single brought home the game's first run and put the Cubs in an early 1-0. It didn't take the Cubs offense long to respond as they immediately went to work against Patrick Corbin in the bottom of the first. There was a time when Corbin was one of the best pitchers in the game, but since signing with the Nationals, it has been a steady free fall. With Dansby Swanson, Seiya Suzuki, and Cody Bellinger all ripping off consecutive singles in the bottom of the first, this was a 1-1 game. Cody Bellinger gets the @Cubs on the board! pic.twitter.com/D6bJTN1dIf Like in the first inning, the top of the Nationals order continued to give the Cubs fits as Abrams led the top of the third off with a double before racing home on a Wood double to make this a 2-1 game. Two batters later saw Jose Tena come through with another single as the Nationals opened up a 3-1 lead. Those were the final runs of the game Assad would allow as he allowed just one base runner the rest of the way and got into a nice groove. In a bit of a de ja Vu moment for the Cubs in the bottom of the third, Swanson got the offense rolling with his second hit in as many at bats and setting the middle of the order up. Leave it to Suzuki to come through in a big way, as he got every bit of a Corbin offering and crushed it out to left center to make this a 3-3 game. Watch it fly @suzuki_seiya_sb 👋 pic.twitter.com/MMJ5LNjM34 At that moment, you started to see Corbin unravel, which came full circle in the bottom of the fifth. Three batters into the Cubs half of the fifth and the bases were loaded as a pair of singles from Ian Happ and Swanson put two runners on ahead of the Suzuki walk. Bellinger and Paredes followed that up with a pair of outs, but they were productive outs as the Bellinger sacrifice fly gave the Cubs a 4-3 lead, with Paredes making things 5-3. In what was now a battle of the bullpens, Craig Counsell was down a few arms and chose to go with Shawn Armstrong to open up the sixth. What started with a leadoff single quickly turned into a bases-empty situation as Armstrong got Keibert Ruiz to ground into a massive double play. All was not lost, however, as the Nationals responded with a pair of hits, including a two-out Darren Baker double, as the Nationals had the tying run in scoring position. Hoping to get out of the inning with the lead, Counsell went back to his pen and called on Drew Smyly to get the final out of the sixth. You want to talk about insanity. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Putting Smyly into a situation like this was insane, given how he has performed in recent outings, and with one swing of the bat from Joey Gallo, it was the Nationals back in front 6-5. Playing catchup for the third time in the game, the Cubs were hoping to eventually get to the Nationals pen, as that has been one of their weaknesses thus far. While Derek Law was good in his 1 2/3, Robert Garcia wasn't, as the Cubs jumped on him with a pair of singles from Happ and Swanson, and Chicago had two on and no outs. Two batters later saw the suddenly scorching hot Bellinger come through with an RBI single to tie things up while also putting runners on the corners. Needing a double play to get out of the inning, Garcia got the ground ball he was looking for, but with Bellinger making it impossible to throw him out at second, it was the Cubs taking the lead for good 7-6 with Paredes picking up his second RBI. Isaac Paredes gives the @Cubs the lead in the 7th! pic.twitter.com/tI889qYq3c That would be all the offense the Cubs would need as the newly formed late-inning duo of Jorge Lopez and Porter Hodge took care of the rest to secure the 7-6 win. Starting off the 4-game series with a W! pic.twitter.com/O0B2QB5sD0 For Hodge, it was his sixth save of the season as his impressive rookie season continues. The Cubs had 12 hits in the win, with the top four hitters combining for 10 of those hits. Happ and Swanson led the way with three, while Suzuki and Bellinger added two. Starting the series off right 👏 Top of the order delivered tonight 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/FIwduHJOUl “Seiya’s having a really nice season.”
Bellinger: 2-for-4, 3 RBI
Suzuki: 2-for-3, HR, 2 RBI, R
Paredes: 2 RBI pic.twitter.com/MfHGDQfyaV
Seiya’s 21st HR of the season marked a new career-high! pic.twitter.com/jxM2KoEBmr
