Chicago Cubs defeat Washington Nationals 4-2 – MLB Update
The Washington Nationals could not maintain the lead in the three-game series on Wednesday, August 10 and lost to Chicago Cubs 4-2 at Wrigley Field.
A night after the Nationals won the game Chicago did not succumb to pressure and stormed back into the series with a much needed victory.
"It's better for us and it's better for our fans," Johnson said. "I know we haven't been too impressive really at all in any part of the year. ... We're playing pretty good baseball now. I'm glad fans are getting to see that."
Chicago Cubs relied on Rodrigo Lopez to keep the Washington Nationals’ hitters in check, while Reed Johnson, Alfonso Soriano and Geovany Soto played their vital role in offence to hit a homer each to seal the victory for the team.
Lopez was also seemingly satisfied with his performance. "I think I had a good game going on," Lopez said. "I wish I could go longer, but I guess there was a good reason (to be removed) after my last two outings."
The Nationals, having won the first game, started Wednesday’s game with characteristic aggression. Michael Morse went for a single against the Cubs’ starter Rodrigo Lopez which gave an early 1-0 lead to the Nationals.
Ross Detwiler proved an effective pitcher with his first inning shutout, providing a safe base to the Nationals. But as the Detwiler entered into third inning, Geovany Soto was the first Cubs’ hitter to homer, levelling the score.
Both starters then came down hard on the respective teams’ hitters to maintain the lead. However, the Cubs’ offence seemed remarkably poised to do something different. Alfonso Soriano had another homer in the fourth to score the tiebreaking run for the Cubs.
Detwiler then could not stop Reed Johnson from hitting a homer in the fifth inning, taking up the lead to 3-1 in the face of faltering Nationals’ offence. Rodrigo Lopez, while pitching effective innings, gave up a run in the sixth.
It was Jayson Werth who homered to bring down the Cubs lead to 3-2. However, the Chicago Cubs’ hitter Alfonso Soriano had another homer in the sixth inning, giving an edge to the team and to revive hopes to win the game.
Jeff Samardzija then pitched a shut-out seventh inning to maintain the lead, Sean Marshall went for a scoreless eighth and Carlos Marmol proved to be a successful closer as he pitched a hitless ninth to turn the 4-2 lead into victory for the Chicago Cubs.
The Cubs put in a tremendous effort as they managed to restrict the Nationals’ offence from scoring runs in the crucial innings. The Nationals will be looking to improve their performance in their next match-up.
Tags: