Chicago Cubs at Washington Nationals

· Major League Baseball

Chicago Cubs

71-66, 35-37 Away

Final
14 - 1

Washington Nationals

61-76, 32-37 Home

Dansby Swanson gets 4 hits as the surging Chicago Cubs beat the Washington Nationals 14-1

Isaac Paredes had three RBI for the Cubs, who finished with 18 hits. Cody Bellinger, Nico Hoerner and Miguel Amaya each drove in two runs.

Chicago closed out an 8-1 road trip that also included stops in Miami and Pittsburgh. The Cubs (71-66), who are looking to rally into an NL wild-card slot, improved to 20-8 since July 31.

Chicago has scored 99 runs in its last 10 games.

“Up and down the lineup, we had guys doing stuff,” manager Craig Counsell said. “You can’t ask for anything more on offense than we got this trip.”

Pitching on his 25th birthday, Wicks (2-2) permitted one run and four hits in his first big league appearance since June 14. The left-hander was activated from the 60-day injured list after he missed more than two months with a right oblique strain.

“It felt good to go out there and get into game shape,” Wicks said. “You can’t really mimic being on a big league field in a big league atmosphere and facing hitters like that. Everything felt great and I was happy to just settle in.”

Washington (61-76) dropped a season-high 15 games under .500. The Nationals were swept for the eighth time this season.

Darren Baker, the son of former big league manager Dusty Baker, made his big league debut as a pinch hitter for the Nationals in the ninth. He singled to center on the first pitch he saw.

The 25-year-old Baker was brought up from Triple-A Rochester as active rosters expanded to 28 players.

Washington left-hander Mitchell Parker (7-9) struck out eight in six innings, but he was charged with four runs, three earned, and seven hits.

The only significant threat for the Nationals against Wicks occurred in the second, when they loaded the bases with none out. Keibert Ruiz grounded into a double play to score a run, and Luis García Jr. flew out to end the inning.

The Cubs responded with three runs in the third. Ian Happ tied it at 1 with a one-out RBI single. After giving up a double and a walk, Parker struck out Bellinger before Paredes hit a two-run single to right.

Chicago made it 4-1 in the fourth. Hoerner scored from first when Washington third baseman José Tena’s attempt to throw out the bunting Pete Crow-Armstrong sailed down the right-field line.

The Nationals committed three errors.

“We’ve got to catch the baseball,” manager Dave Martinez said. “It was awful today. I can’t say nothing about it. Our defense was not there. I thought Mitch threw the ball really well. We’ve got to play defense behind him.”

The Cubs padded the lead with a seven-run ninth against rookie relievers Zack Brzykcy and Orlando Ribalta. Chicago’s seven hits during the rally were its most in any inning this season.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cubs: INF Nick Madrigal (left pinky fracture) was recalled from Triple-A Iowa and placed on the 60-day injured list to make room on the 40-man roster for Wicks.

Cubs: RHP Jameson Taillon (9-8, 3.85 ERA) starts as Chicago returns home Monday to open a three-game series against Pittsburgh.

Nationals: Following an off day on Monday, LHP Patrick Corbin (4-12, 5.50 ERA) will look to win his third consecutive start Tuesday when the Nationals begin a two-game series at Miami.

How can I watch Chicago Cubs vs. Washington Nationals?

TV Channel: Cubs at Nationals 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.TV.
Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Matchup Prediction

Nationals: 52.4%

Cubs: 47.6%

*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

	9th Inning	Wood grounded into double play, third to shortstop to first, Baker out at second.
	9th Inning	Baker singled to center.
	9th Inning	Baker hit for Chaparro
	9th Inning	Tena struck out swinging.
	9th Inning	Roberts relieved Armstrong
	9th Inning	Mastrobuoni at third base.

Statistics

CHC		WSH
1	Games Played	1
1	Team Games Played	1
0	Hit By Pitch	0
12	Ground Balls	13
11	Strikeouts	2
12	Runs Batted In	0
0	Sacrifice Hit	0
17	Hits	5
0	Stolen Bases	0
4	Walks	2
0	Catcher Interference	0
14	Runs	1
1	Ground Into Double Play	3
0	Sacrifice Flies	0
45	At Bats	29
0	Home Runs	0
0	Grand Slam Home Runs	0
19	Runners Left On Base	8
0	Triples	0
1	Game Winning RBIs	0
0	Intentional Walks	0
4	Doubles	1
22	Fly Balls	14
0	Caught Stealing	0
172	Pitches	115
0	Games Started	0
2	Pinch At Bats	1
1	Pinch Hits	1
0.0	Player Rating	0.0
1	Is Qualified	1
0	Is Qualified In Steals	0
21	Total Bases	6
49	Plate Appearances	31
0.0	Projected Home Runs	0.0
4	Extra Base Hits	1
8.5	Runs Created	0.0
.378	Batting Average	.172
.500	Pinch Hit Average	1.000
.467	Slugging Percentage	.207
.178	Secondary Average	.103
.429	On Base Percentage	.226
.895	OBP Pct + SLG Pct	.433
0.5	Ground To Fly Ball Ratio	0.9
8.0	Runs Created Per 27 Outs	0.0
77.0	Batter Rating	9.0
0.0	At Bats Per Home Run	0.0
0.00	Stolen Base Percentage	0.00
3.51	Pitches Per Plate Appearance	3.71
.089	Isolated Power	.034
0.36	Walk To Strikeout Ratio	1.00
.082	Walks Per Plate Appearance	.065
-.200	Secondary Average Minus Batting Average	-.069
26.0	Runs Produced	1.0
0.9	Runs Ratio	0.0
0.5	Patience Ratio	0.3
0.5	Balls In Play Average	0.2
114.3	MLB Rating	65.0
0.0	Offensive Wins Above Replacement	0.0
0.0	Wins Above Replacement	0.0