It wasn’t pretty, but the Chicago Cubs escaped Washington with a win on Sunday night as they edged the Nationals 6-5 in their series finale in the nation’s capital.
Anthony Rizzo hit his 11th home run of the season, and Kyle Schwarber drove in a pair of runs as the Cubs wrapped up their road trip with a 3-3 record. Kyle Hendricks cruised through the early stages of the game, but was pulled in the sixth after giving up four earned runs in the contest.
Javier Baez was forced to leave the game in the sixth inning due to an injury suffered while fielding a ground ball earlier in the game.
Anthony Rendon smacked a three-run homer to bring the Nationals to within two runs, and Howie Kendrick hit a solo shot, but it wasn’t enough as Washington’s comeback attempt fell short.
The Cubs managed to build up a sizable lead through the first four innings of the game, as Hendricks cruised through four no-hit frames and the Cubs manufactured runs in the early stages. Baez had an RBI fielder’s choice in the first, and Schwarber contributed with a pair of sacrifice flies in the second and fourth innings. The big blow came in the third, as Rizzo hammered a ball over the left field wall, and when all was said and done the Cubs led 4-0 after four innings.
Brian Dozier had an RBI groundout in the fifth to trim the Chicago lead to three games, but the Cubs added a pair of runs in the sixth, as Hendricks registered an RBI on a squeeze bunt and Bryant followed it up with an RBI single to make it 6-1.
The Nationals wouldn’t go quietly, and they cut Chicago’s lead to just one run in the seventh inning. Rendon blasted a home run to right center in the sixth inning, and Kendrick hit a solo shot to right in the seventh to make it a 6-5 game.
Chicago Baseball
Steve Cishek was the hero of the day for the Cubs, pitching two and a third innings of one-hit baseball to nail down his fourth save and a Cubs victory.
Chicago will now head back to Wrigley Field for their next homestand, and they’ll face a familiar foe on Monday as Jake Arrieta will take the hill for the Philadelphia Phillies. Yu Darvish will pitch for the Cubs in the battle of 2018 free agent signings.
