The Chicago Cubs won a back-and-forth contest with the Washington Nationals Thursday night. The opener of this four-game series was a tight game throughout, with the Cubs pulling out the 7-6 win after a two-run seventh-inning rally gave them the lead. The game was action-filled with constant action on the bases and pitchers struggling to make it through innings unscathed. Each team’s starter had to work around poor defense and constant traffic on the bases. Javier Assad made it through five frames for the Chicago Cubs, while Patrick Corbin was chased from the game during a fifth-inning jam.
The Cubs enjoyed a 5-3 lead when both teams got into their bullpens, but a three-run sixth for Washington that included a Joey Gallo pinch-hit home run gave them the lead. It was the middle of the Chicago order that mounted the final comeback of the game in the seventh to get the lead back. After coughing up the two-run lead given to the bullpen by Javier Assad, Javier Lopez and Porter Hodge got the Cubs to the finish line, with Hodge stranding the tying run at third in the ninth inning on his way to his sixth save of the season.
Chicago Cubs Take Tough 7-6 Battle
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The Chicago Cubs welcomed in the Washington Nationals on Thursday night for the first matchup of four in a weekend series. The game was a tough-fought battle, with the Cubs prevailing 7-6 after five different lead changes. There was no shortage of action in this one, with the teams combining for 25 hits and six steals. Pitchers had a tough time tossing clean innings, battling to keep the game in their favor in such a hotly-contested game.
The starters didn’t have their best stuff on either side. Javier Assad allowed traffic on the bases in every inning except for his final inning of work in the fifth. The Chicago Cubs right-hander gave up an opening salvo in the first inning after CJ Abrams singled to lead off the game and stole second and third before Andres Chaparro singled him in to give Washington the early lead. Assad ran into some more trouble in the third when Abrams reached base again, doubled in by James Wood to plate the Nationals’ second run. Wood came in to score on a Jose Tena single.
For the Chicago Cubs offense, three of their first four hitters reached off Washington starter Patrick Corbin. Cody Bellinger drove in Dansby Swanson on a single to tie the game at 1-1. After the Nationals took the lead back in the third, Seiya Suzuki responded in the bottom of the inning with a long two-run home run. Corbin would struggle much like Assad throughout his outing, but unlike Assad, Corbin could not work a clean fifth. Corbin loaded the bases with no outs to start the frame, setting up the Cubs to take a 5-3 lead.
Bellinger drove in another run, although on a lot weaker contact this time around. The Chicago left-hander dribbled a ball down the first base line, giving Ian Happ the opportunity to scamper home and limiting Juan Yepez to only being able to make one play, tagging out Bellinger as he jogged down the line. With runners at second and third with one out, Isaac Paredes lifted a fly ball deep enough into right field that Dansby Swanson could run in and score to make it a 5-3 game on the sacrifice fly.
The Chicago Cubs lead was short-lived. With Assad out of the game, Shawn Armstrong entered from the bullpen and immediately ran into trouble. Armstrong allowed three hits and induced a double play before being taken out when Joey Gallo was announced as a pinch hitter to bat with runners at second and third. Drew Smyly came in to try and fan the flames in a lefty-lefty matchup. After a seven-pitch battle, Smyly left a sinker up in the zone and Gallo did not miss it, launching a three-run home run into the right-field bleachers.
Washington snagged the 6-5 lead, shifting the onus to their own bullpen. The maligned Nationals pen ran into a jam in the seventh. Just like in the fifth inning, it was Bellinger and Paredes who did the damage for the Chicago Cubs, with Bellinger squeaking a single into left-center field to drive in Ian Happ. Paredes grounded a ball down the third-base line and with Bellinger going with the pitch, Jose Tena could only throw to first to get Parades out, allowing the Cubs’ seventh run to cross the plate and giving them the 7-6 lead.
With the pressure back on the Chicago Cubs bullpen Craig Counsell went to Javier Lopez and Porter Hodge for the final two innings. Lopez worked a clean eighth in his first action in over two weeks, setting the stage for Porter Hodge. Hodge made it interesting with CJ Abrams notching his fourth hit of the night with a one-out double to bring the go-ahead run to the plate. Abrams made it to third on a sacrifice fly. James Wood worked a walk and stole second to put the go-ahead run in scoring position but Andres Chaparro couldn’t take advantage of a hanging breaking ball from Hodge and flew out to left to end the ball game.
The back-and-forth opening game of the series went to Chicago, getting them to 78-75 and 7 GB of the NL Wild Card. The next game of this series starts tomorrow afternoon at 1:20 PM CST.
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