Cubs score early and late to take series opener v.s. Nats

Contreras’ lead-off home run, along with some late insurance runs, ended up being just enough for Chicago on this night

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Lead-off home runs have been the norm for the Cubs in the last week or so. Willson Contreras got in on the party on Monday, taking Nationals starting pitcher Gio Gonzalez deep in the first inning. That, coupled with late insurance runs in the 8th and 9th innings was enough for the Cubs to take a 5–4 road win to start this four game series in Washington.

The win improves the Cubs record to 39–37, just one game behind the Milwaukee Brewers for first place in the NL Central.

Contreras finished the night 2 for 4 at the plate and his first inning home run was his eighth of the season. Chicago held that 1–0 lead for most of the game and a big reason for that was their starting pitcher Eddie Butler.

Butler finished with five strong innings of work, only four hits and no runs allowed. He only had one strikeout but he worked off of his strong defense and didn’t give the Nationals any free passes via the walk. It looked for a while like the Contreras home run would be the difference mainly because both bullpens were impressive in the middle innings.

Carl Edwards Jr. struck out the side in the 6th inning and then Pedro Strop worked a scoreless 7th inning as they kept the Cubs lead at 1–0.

In the top half of the 8th, Javier Baez reached on a single then made it to second on a misplay by Nats second baseman Daniel Murphy. With runners on first and second, Baez stole third base one pitch later to give the Cubs first and third with only one out. Albert Almora Jr. was next to bat and he laid down a perfect bunt to plate Baez as he snuck in under the tag to give the Cubs a 2–0 lead.

Washington was able to threaten Chicago in the 8th by putting two runners on base with two outs, but Justin Grimm was able to force a ground out to end the inning and send Chicago into the last inning with a two-run lead.

Tommy La Stella started the 9th with an infield single and advanced to second on a throwing error. Rizzo then knocked him in with an RBI single making it 3–0. Ian Happ then brought home Kris Bryant on a single followed by Baez’s line drive double to bring home Happ from first. With a 5–0 lead heading into the bottom of the 9th it looked like the Cubs would cruise into a much needed road win against a quality opponent.

Not quite. The Nationals scrapped and clawed their way back into the game. Hector Rondon started the inning for Chicago and he had another rough outing. After only getting one out and allowing two hits and one run on a Matt Wieters single, he was sent out early in favor of closer Wade Davis. Davis came in with a 5–1 lead and things only got worse from there.

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That four run lead evaporated quickly as Stephen Drew drove in two runs making it a 5–3 game. A wild pitch brought in Wilmer Difo and just like that, it was a 5–4 lead. Ryan Zimmerman came to the plate with two outs and the tying and winning runs on base. Davis was able to get Zimmerman to strikeout swinging to end the game and the Cubs were able to hang on.

Up Next: The Cubs and Nationals will play game two of this series in Washington D.C. with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 ET. Max Scherzer (2.09 ERA, 2.78 FIP, 0.808 WHIP) will start for the Nats while Jake Arrieta (4.36 ERA, 4.09 FIP, 1.287 WHIP) takes the mound for the Cubs.

Nick Konotopskyj is a recent graduate of St. Bonaventure University in Western New York. As a fan of the Cubs, Bills, Sabres and Knicks, winning seasons have been hard to come by let alone title contending teams. Finally, the Cubs were able to lift the curse last fall. You can follow him on Twitter @Nick_Kono11