Bryce Harper hit his 18th home run, Max Scherzer struck out a season-high 13 to outduel Jon Lester and the Washington Nationals beat the Chicago Cubs 3-0 on Wednesday night.
The top two free-agent pitchers on the market last offseason, Scherzer (6-3) and Lester faced off in a memorable matchup in the finale of the three-game series. Scherzer, who signed a seven-year deal worth $210 million with Washington, was better than his counterpart, throwing seven scoreless innings while allowing five hits and one walk to win his fifth straight start.
Scherzer and three relievers combined to shut out the Cubs and take two of three from Chicago. Drew Storen pitched a scoreless ninth for his 16th save in 17 attempts.
In support of Scherzer, Harper continued his torrid May and pulled even with Seattle's Nelson Cruz for the major-league lead in homers. Harper's sixth-inning home run off Lester (4-3) was a line drive into the left-field bleachers, giving him 13 this month and 28 runs batted in during May.
Matt Grace started the eighth for Washington and allowed a Jorge Soler double and hit Anthony Rizzo before being replaced by Casey Janssen. Janssen got Kris Bryant to pop out before Dexter Fowler's sacrifice advanced the runners to second and third. Starlin Castro then grounded to short to end the threat for the Cubs.
Danny Espinosa added a solo home run in the ninth off Travis Wood, and Ian Desmond extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a one-out double in the first.
Beyond Harper's home run and an unearned run in the fourth, Lester kept pace with Scherzer. The veteran left-hander, who joined the Cubs after signing a six-year, $155 million contract, went seven innings and allowed two runs (one earned) and seven hits while matching a season-high with 10 strikeouts but couldn't become the first Chicago pitcher to win five games in a calendar month since Carlos Silva in May 2010.
Chicago Baseball
Lester did make some history, but it was with his bat and not the way he'd want. He went 0 for 2 and dropped to 0 for 59 lifetime to move him into sole possession for the longest hitless streak to begin a career. With his second-inning fly-out to deep center and fourth-inning strikeout, Lester moved past Joey Hamilton (0 for 57) to set the new mark.
Chicago lost its fourth in six games.
