Chicago Cubs

Cubs Beat Nationals, Advance to NLCS

After a furious comeback, the Chicago Cubs advanced to the NLCS with a win over the Washington Nationals on Thursday night. 

The Cubs got to Gonzalez early in the game, as Jon Jay smacked a lead-off double, and they ultimately got their first run of the contest. Anthony Rizzo grounded out to second base, but it was enough to chase Jay home to make it 1-0. 

Unfortunately for the Cubs, Jason Heyward grounded out weakly to first base with the bases loaded to leave the lead at just one. 

That wasn't good enough for the Cubs, as they quickly went down by three runs in the second inning. Daniel Murphy cracked a first-pitch home run off of Kyle Hendricks, and then Michael A. Taylor, who hit a grand slam in Game 4, hit a three-run home run into the left field bullpen to make it a 4-1 game. 

The Cubs got two of those runs back in the third inning, as an RBI groundout and a wild pitch made it a 4-3 game as Kris Bryant and Willson Contreras both scored. 

The score held until the fifth inning, when the Cubs improbably took the lead over Max Scherzer. After Contreras walked and Ben Zobrist reached on a single, Addison Russell smacked an RBI double down the left field line, driving in two runs to give the Cubs a 5-4 lead. 

The Cubs added two more runs in the frame, as Javier Baez reached base on a dropped third strike and scored Russell, and Jay was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to make it a 7-4 game. 

The Cubs added an insurance run in the top of the sixth, as Russell smacked a ball to left field and it evaded Jayson Werth, allowing Zobrist to score and make it an 8-4 game. 

The Nationals got a pair of runs back in the sixth inning, including an RBI double from Daniel Murphy. Mike Montgomery did induce a flyout for the final out, leaving the Cubs ahead by two runs with three innings to go. 

The Cubs got a run back in the seventh inning, as they scored thanks to some good baserunning. Kyle Schwarber pinch-hit and lined a loud single off the right field wall, and he ultimately scored as Bryant grounded into a fielder's choice to make it a 9-6 game. 

The Nationals chipped away at the Cubs lead, getting a run back on Harper's sacrifice fly in the seventh inning to make it a 9-7 game. Daniel Murphy then scored on an RBI single by Taylor to make it 9-8, but Contreras picked off Jose Lobaton to keep the Cubs in front to end the eighth inning. 

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