Chicago Cubs defeat Washington Nationals 4-3 – MLB Update
Ryan Dempster pitched with remarkable accuracy on Thursday, August 11 and the offence sparked as the Chicago Cubs beat the Washington Nationals 4-3 at Wrigley Field.
The Cubs put together a great performance to outdo the loss the Nationals inflicted on them in the first game.
Aramis Ramirez had his 21st hit of the season and Carlos Pena also scored at a crucial time to bring the Chicago Cubs in the game and allowed them to wrap up the series with a 2-1 victory.
However, much of the Quade’s compliment went for the Ryan Dempster who allowed only a homer to Ryan Zimmerman in the first inning, but then came down hard on the Washington Nationals hitters to pitch seven solid innings, allowing merely 3 hits.
"When you ask a guy to come out for a third day, you're always worried," Quade said. "He's done it before. He just wasn't as sharp command-wise. Just a gutsy performance on a day when he didn't have his (best) stuff."
When Dempster came on the mound on Thursday, Ryan Zimmerman seemed to have braced himself for a big hit. He homered and gave the Washington Nationals an early 1-0 lead that Jordan Zimmerman maintained with a strong first inning shut-out.
Dempster, however, did not repeat the mistake he had committed earlier. He managed to pitch brilliant innings that barely gave the Washington Nationals hitters any space to play with confidence and score. Alfonso Soriano, on the other hand, scored a single
in the fourth to level the score.
While Ryan Dempster kept pounding the Washington Nationals’ offence with fast-paced pitches, Jordan Zimmerman did his best to not allow the Cubs’ hitters to utilize any opportunity. Both the starters pitched well until the seventh when the Cubs offence stirred.
Aramis Ramirez homered against Zimmerman, taking the Cubs lead to 3-1 while Carlos Pena followed with a homer that took the lead to 4-1 in the 3-hit three-run seventh inning for the Chicago Cubs.
As Brian Bixler drove in a run in the eighth against the Cubs’ Jeff Samardzija, the Nationals stood at 4-2. Todd Coffey pitched a scoreless eighth against the Cubs, while Carlos Marmol came to pitch against the Cubs in the ninth.
Marmol allowed only a run to Wilson Ramos and sent other hitters packing to wrap up the game with a 4-3 score for the Chicago Cubs, giving the team a victory and the series.
The Cubs put in a tremendous effort as they managed to restrict the Nationals from scoring in the crucial innings. Washington will be looking to improve their performance in their next match-up. It will be interesting to see how the Cubs manage to carry
their winning momentum into their next series.
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