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 And the Washington Nationals right-hander, a Chicago area native,
did not disappoint as he pitched five strong innings in the
Nationals' 2-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Monday.
"It felt great pitching in front of a lot of friends and family,"
said Roark, a native of nearby Wilmington, Ill., who earned the win
in his first start of the year and fourth career appearance at
Wrigley Field. "They always come up here to watch us play. It was a
great atmosphere."
Catcher Wilson Ramos' sixth-inning solo home run provided Roark all
the margin he needed on a breezy afternoon with the wind blowing
out.
Washington right-handed reliever Drew Storen allowed one baserunner
as he worked the ninth for his 15th save.
Chicago right-hander Justin Grimm (1-1) gave up Ramos' homer and
took the Memorial Day loss after working two-thirds of the sixth in
relief.
Cubs left-hander Tsuyoshi Wada had no decision after throwing 5 1/3
innings in his second start of the season.
"Both sides pitched really, really well today," Cubs manager Joe
Maddon said. "I know the wind is a factor, but it's hard to hit
homers if you're making good pitches. ... We just have to figure out
how to win those things but I will take our effort, our
performance."
Leadoff batter Denard Span gave Washington a 1-0 lead with a
first-inning home run to the still-empty right-field bleachers.
Span's fourth homer of the year came on Wada's 2-2 pitch.
Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant replied in the bottom of the first,
forcing a 1-1 tie with his sixth homer of the season. Bryant's solo
shot landed in the first row of the left-field bleachers.
"He got a hanging slider and hit it," said Nationals manager Matt
Williams. "He's got power, he's a good player. We need to make good
pitches on him to get him out."
Span's homer was all Wada allowed. He threw 83 pitches in 5 1/3
innings and had four consecutive shutout innings before departing in
favor of Grimm.
Wada, who started the season on the disabled list with a mild left
groin strain, gave up one run on four hits, walked two and struck
out six.
Ramos gave the Nationals the 2-1 lead when he greeted Grimm with a
home run to right on an 0-1 pitch.
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"Favorable wind today for the offense," said Williams. "We got a
couple of them elevated -- Span and Wilson (Ramos) -- and that was
enough for us."
Roark, now 1-2, left with the lead as he was replaced by
right-handed reliever Blake Treinen to start the sixth. Roark
allowed just one run on three hits, walked one and struck out three
in his five innings of work.
"It's hard to prepare coming out of the bullpen, but I got it
underneath my belt,' said Roark, who made 13 relief appearances
prior to Monday's start. "My arm feels great, my body feels great.
I'm a little worn down but I could build off this."
NOTES: Monday's win gave the Nationals a major-league-leading 20-5
record (.800) since April 28. They also topped the big leagues in
runs (143), runs per game (5.96), on-base percentage (.356),
slugging percentage (.476) and batting average (.294) entering
Monday. ... Following the three-game Chicago series, Washington
travels to Cincinnati for a weekend series and hosts Toronto for
three starting next Monday. ... The Nationals send RHP Jordan
Zimmermann (4-2, 3.52 ERA) against Cubs RHP Kyle Hendricks (1-1,
4.14 ERA) in Tuesday's middle game. ... Two Cubs minor league
prospects had hot Sundays as C/DH Kyle Schwarber went 3-for-4 for
Double-A Tennessee -- his 10th multi-hit game of the season. SS
Javier Baez hit two solo homers for Triple-A Iowa and is batting
.538 over the last three games. ... The Cubs play six straight games
against first-place teams this week starting with the three-game
Nationals series followed by a three-game weekend set starting
Friday with AL Central-leading Kansas City. ... 1B Anthony Rizzo's
three-run ninth-inning homer on Saturday was his first homer with at
least two men on base since a grand slam on Sept. 16, 2012, against
Pittsburgh.
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