But the Nationals soon leveled things. Quiet all series, Daniel Murphy tied the score with a solo home run off Hendricks in the second inning. Following singles by Anthony Rendon and Matt Wieters, Michael A. Taylor slammed a three-run shot, a day after hitting a decisive grand slam.

But Gonzalez nearly squandered that lead in the next frame. He loaded the bases, coughing up a double to Kris Bryant and two walks. Addison Russell drove in a run with a groundout, and then Gonzalez allowed another with a wild pitch that scored Willson Contreras.

That left the Nationals with a one-run lead, which was wiped out in the game-changing fifth. After Gonzalez lasted only three innings, Nationals Manager Dusty Baker used reliever Matt Albers for one inning. And for the fifth, he brought in Scherzer with the expectation that he might be able to go two innings.

Scherzer tore through Bryant and Rizzo with ease. Despite firing adrenaline-fueled 98-mile-per hour fastballs, he was hittable. Contreras and pinch-hitter Ben Zobrist, a postseason hero for the Cubs last year, singled. Then Russell hit a ball down the third-base line, past the diving Rendon, for a go-ahead two-run double.

The inning then descended into madness. Scherzer struck out Javier Baez, which would have been the third out, but the ball got through the legs of Wieters, the catcher. Baez reached on a passed ball, and Russell scored on Wieters’s errant throw past first baseman Ryan Zimmerman and his backup, Murphy, the second baseman.

The next batter, Tommy La Stella, reached on what was ruled catcher interference. Then the Cubs took a 7-4 lead when Scherzer hit the next batter, Jay, on the knee with the bases loaded.

Scherzer finally escaped the inning after 28 pitches, but the damage was done. Baker made what seemed to be the right move, bringing in his best pitcher who started on Monday, yet the results did not work.