Six in a row! Cubs top Nationals 8-5 |
In a back and forth battle for most the day, the Chicago Cubs once again prevailed over the Washington Nationals 8-5 on a windy day at Wrigley Field Saturday afternoon. It was the third victory for the Cubs in as many days over the Nationals. The Cubs are a season-high 17 games over .500 and have won a season-high six straight games.
With the game was tied at five in the seventh inning, Addison Russell hit a fly ball down the right-field line near the wall. Bryce Harper reached out for the ball, but the ball appeared to nick his glove and fall on the line for a two-run double to give the Cubs the winning margin. The Cubs would add an insurance run in the eighth on an RBI single from Ben Zobrist, who now has three homers and nine RBIs on the homestand. Harper got the Nationals on the board in the third with a sac fly which would have been a two-run homer on a windless day. The Cubs responded in bottom half of the inning when Dexter Fowler's triple scored Tim Federowicz. Kris Bryant got every bit of a 0-2 pitch to hit a solo home run through the wind in the fourth inning. It was Bryant's fifth home run of the year. But the Nationals regained the lead in the fifth after shortstop Danny Espinosa singled in Jose Lobaton, and Ryan Zimmerman singled in Espinosa. After a walk, Washington got an RBI double from Stephen Drew in the sixth off of Spencer Patton who was just called up. Russell singled in Anthony Rizzo in the sixth to cut the lead to 4-3. The Cubs then loaded the bases and recently called up Ryan Kalish got a pinch-hit single with two outs to score two runs and give the Cubs the lead. Washington got the run back when Ben Revere tripled to lead off the seventh and scored on an RBI groundout by Ryan Zimmermann. Cubs starter Jason Hammel threw 97 pitches over five innings giving up three runs and striking out four. He did not factor in the decision as he was seeking to go 10-0 lifetime versus the Nationals. Adam Warren (3-0) got the win while Hector Rondon (S, 6) saved it with a perfect ninth At 23-6, the Cubs are off to their best start through 29 games since the team was 24-5 to start the 1907 campaign. Chicago will go for the four-game sweep on Sunday when ace Jake Arrieta (6-0, 0.84) faces RHP Tanner Roark (2-2, 2.35) at 1:20 PM CT.
