Chicago Cubs Score and Recap (Simulated Game 40): Cubs 4, Nationals 6 – Late Cubs Rally Falls Short
After a convincing win to open the weekend series on Friday, the Chicago Cubs (26-14) fell behind early on Saturday and couldn’t recover against the Washington Nationals (17-21). The Nats scored three runs in the top of the 1st inning against Tyler Chatwood and never looked back in a 6-4 victory at Wrigley Field, via MLB The Show 20.
Chatwood, who has been very good so far this year despite some short pitching performances, was not on top of his game. The right-hander allowed a whole lot of solid contact, giving up five hits – two of them doubles – in the opening frame alone.
The Cubs did put up a fight on offense against left-hander Patrick Corbin, however. Kris Bryant walked to open the bottom of the first, and an Anthony Rizzo single and Javier Báez walk loaded the bases with nobody out. Willson Contreras hit a popout, bringing up Albert Almora Jr. The center fielder lined a single up the middle against Corbin, driving in two runs and making the score 3-2 in favor of Washington.
Nats catcher Kurt Suzuki made the score 4-2 in the top of the 3rd, when he led off the inning with a solo homer off of Chatwood. That ended his day on the mound, totaling two innings and giving up five earned runs on seven hits and two walks with just one strikeout. Alec Mills relieved Chatwood and pitched quite well, throwing five innings with one run surrendered on five hits and one walk while tallying a career-high seven strikeouts.
The Cubs bats went silent until the 6th when Báez singled and scored daringly on a hit-and-run with Contreras. Báez was nearly to second base when Contreras knocked the ball into the air in right field, so, rather than freeze because the ball could be caught, Báez committed to either scoring or being doubled off. It worked out for him when the ball dropped safely and he just beat Adam Eaton‘s throw to home plate.
The score was now 6-3 and the Cubs weren’t done against Corbin. Nico Hoerner singled to start the bottom of the 7th, stole second base, and came around to score on an RBI single by pinch-hitter Josh Phegley, bringing the Cubs to within 6-4. Dave Martinez went to Wander Suero in relief of Corbin, who finished with a line of six innings pitched, four earned runs, six hits, three walks, and eight strikeouts.
Unfortunately for the Cubs, Suero was able to get out of the inning with no more runs crossing the plate. Sean Doolittle pitched a scoreless 8th, though he did give up one-out singles to Almora and David Bote. Right-hander Ryne Harper pitched a clean 9th to nail down the 6-4 victory and his fifth save of the season.
Notes: Brandon Morrow made his first appearance on a big league mound since prior to the 2018 All-Star break. He pitched the 8th inning for the Cubs, throwing as hard as 95 mph. Morrow faced only three batters, getting Eaton on a groundout, Starlin Castro on a flyout to center field, and striking out Juan Soto swinging.
Key Players:
Almora – 2-for-4, 2 RBI
Rizzo – 2-for-5, R
Hoerner – 1-for-4, SB
Mills – 5 IP, 5 H, 1 BB, 1 ER, 7 K
Robles – 3-for-4, 2 2B, RBI
Suzuki – 1-for-5, HR, RBI
Castro – 2-for-5, RBI
Winning Pitcher – Corbin (4-2)
Losing Pitcher – Chatwood (1-1)
Save – Harper (5)
Home Runs – Suzuki (4)
40-game stats:
Contreras – 108 AB, 7 HR, 23 RBI, .287/.366/.565
Caratini – 56 AB, 2 HR, 6 RBI, .179/.246/.321
Phegley – 43 AB, 1 HR, 3 RBI, .209/.222/.302
Rizzo – 144 AB, 9 HR, 19 RBI, .278/.354/.493
Kipnis (IL) – 62 AB, 1 HR, 2 RBI, .113/.225/.210
Bryant – 143 AB, 12 HR, 27 RBI, .364/.459/.678
Bote – 118 AB, 6 HR, 27 RBI, .288/.366/.500
Báez– 141 AB, 9 HR, 22 RBI, .291/.346/.567
Hoerner – 25 AB, 1 HR, 3 RBI, .160/.222/.280
Schwarber – 116 AB, 5 HR, 21 RBI, .310/.400/.483
Happ – 113 AB, 7 HR, 20 RBI, .283/.357/.540
Almora – 62 AB, 3 HR, 10 RBI, .258/.333/.484
Miller (AAA) – 17 AB, 0 HR, 0 RBI, .118/.211/.176
Heyward – 90 AB, 8 HR, 23 RBI, .289/.387/.567
Souza – 65 AB, 2 HR, 8 RBI, .262/.319/.369
Hendricks – 8 GS, 3-2, 41.2 IP, 34 K, 5 BB, 5.40 ERA
Darvish – 8 GS, 5-2, 48.2 IP, 63 K, 16 BB, 3.88 ERA
Lester – 8 GS, 2-3, 45 IP, 37 K, 14 BB, 3.40 ERA
Quintana – 8 GS, 4-2, 49 IP, 43 K, 19 BB, 3.67 ERA
Chatwood – 8 GS, 1-1, 36.1 IP, 35 K, 19 BB, 3.47 ERA
Mills – 15 G, 28 IP, 28 K, 8 BB, 3.86 ERA, 0-0 S
Wick – 17 G, 14.2 IP, 18 K, 9 BB, 4.30 ERA, 0-3 S
Jeffress – 15 G, 15.1 IP, 17 K, 5 BB, 4.70 ERA, 0-1 S
Hultzen – 9 G, 7.2 IP, 10 K, 2 BB, 1.17 ERA, 0-0 S
Winkler (AAA) – 4 G, 2.2 IP, 2 K, 3 BB, 16.88 ERA, 0-0 S
Tepera – 14 G, 15 IP, 11 K, 7 BB, 3.00 ERA, 0-0 S
Ryan – 19 G, 15 IP, 17 K, 9 BB, 3.00 ERA, 0-2 S
Sadler (AAA) – 13 G, 13 IP, 5 K, 6 BB, 3.46 ERA, 0-1 S
Maples (AAA) – 4 G, 5 IP, 4 K, 5 BB, 10.80 ERA, 0-0 S
Morrow – 1 G, 1 IP, 1 K, 0 BB, 0.00 ERA, 0-0 S
Kimbrel – 22 G, 19.2 IP, 27 K, 7 BB, 1.37 ERA, 16-17 S
