Cruz broke a 4-4 tie when he homered to center off Brandon
Hughes (1-1) with one out in the eighth.
Carl Edwards Jr. (4-3) pitched one inning for the win, and Kyle
Finnegan picked up his fifth save.
Ian Happ homered twice for the Cubs.
The game marked the Nationals debut of shortstop CJ Abrams, one
of five prospects obtained in the Juan Soto-Josh Bell trade.
Abrams, called up from Triple-A Rochester, went 0-for-4 and
committed a throwing error.
Washington starter Josiah Gray allowed three runs on five hits
and two walks. He struck out 10 batters, one below his season
high.
Marcus Stroman allowed four unearned runs on six hits in 4 2/3
innings for the Cubs.
Gray retired the first two Chicago batters, but then Happ timed
a 1-1 curveball and homered to right-center field. Seiya Suzuki
followed with an infield single and Franmil Reyes banged a
triple off the right field wall to make it 2-0.
In the fifth, Happ blasted a 2-1 pitch into the second deck in
right-center field for his 12th homer of the season and the Cubs
led 3-0. It was Happ's ninth career multi-homer game.
The Nationals loaded the bases on an error and two singles to
open the fifth. Joey Meneses struck out, but Luke Voit grounded
into a fielder's choice to score a run. Yadiel Hernandez
followed with an RBI single. Stroman was lifted, but Cruz
greeted Mark Leiter Jr. with a double down the third base line
to score two runs and give Washington a 4-3 lead.
Chicago tied it in the seventh when Nick Madrigal doubled and
later scored on Suzuki's two-out single.
Cruz then drilled his ninth homer of the season in the eighth to
put the Nationals ahead for good.
--Field Level Media
[© 2022 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.![](column_spacer.png) |
|