Washington Nationals prevail over the Chicago Cubs with 2-1 win – MLB News
The Chicago Cubs’ offence struggled on Monday, September 3, resulting in the team’s 2-1 loss against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park.
Jeff Samardzija, the Cubs’ starter tossed seven strong innings but did not have any backing from the offence that culminated with the team’s defeat.
Samardzija who seemed in perfect form, gave up seven hits and only a run as the Nationals' batters had difficulty encountering them. This was the second consecutive start that he lost although the Cubs were genuinely looking forward to a tough show here.
It was Adam LaRoche who hit a solo homer in the second inning to give the Nationals a 1-0 lead. Apart from that, Samardzija kept pitching well until the seventh. Ryan Zimmerman then added a double to left in the eighth to make it 2-0 for the Nationals.
Wellington Castillo hit an RBI single in the ninth against Tyler Clippard to make it 2-1 for the Cubs, but could not go beyond that, as Clippard ended the game with a 2-1 win for the Nationals.
Chicago Cubs' team manager, Dale Sveum was satisfied with Samardzija’s performance.
"He was as good as he could be," Dale Sveum said. "One pitch to lead off the second inning, other than that, he was pretty good. The velocity was good the whole day, his split was good, getting back into counts with his slider. Threw one heck of a game."
What is different this season, interestingly, is the fact that Samardzija has so far thrown over 165 innings. Compared to last season, wherein he had tossed 88 innings, this will have a huge impact on his morale and confidence.
"A big thing for me was just to prove to [the Cubs] that I could pitch strong late in the season, and that I wouldn't need a break," Samardzija said. "It's big for me to finish strong in the season. That way, you can hang your hat on a full year going into the next year.”
The Chicago Cubs will have the second match of their four game series on Tuesday, trying to have a better finish.
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