Washington Nationals at Chicago Cubs

· Major League Baseball

Washington Nationals

68-86, 32-47 Away

Final
1 - 3

Chicago Cubs

79-75, 41-35 Home

Cubs stave off elimination, beat Nationals 3-1 behind Taillon and Swanson

Pinch-hitter Mike Tauchman had a two-run single in the seventh for the Cubs (79-75), who have eight games left and closed within six games for the last NL wild card.

“We got a big swing from Dansby early in the game and props to Mike Tauchman, as well,” Chicago manager Craig Counsell said. “He's delivering very good at-bats from a pinch-hitting role.”

Washington has lost five straight games.

Taillon (11-8) struck out four, walked two and hit a batter, improving to 3-0 with a 1.99 ERA in his last five starts. He stranded the bases loaded in the third when José Tena lined out, and Taillion retired his last 10 batters.

“It was a really good effort," Counsell said. "It was crafty the way he pitched. ... His cutter to the backside, he had a lot of lefties in the lineup obviously, and his cutter to that side of the plate was really good.”

Tyson Miller retired Dylan Crews on a bases-loaded grounder in the seventh and gave up an eighth-inning homer to James Wood. Porter Hodge pitched a perfect ninth for his seventh save, finishing a five-hitter.

Trevor Williams (5-1), returning from a right flexor muscle strain that had sidelined him since May 30, allowed one run and three hits in five innings.

“Everything felt real good, take away one pitch from this outing,” Williams said. “I'm just thankful that I was be out there and give the team a chance to win."

Taillon enjoyed locking up with in a pitcher's duel with Williams, a Pittsburgh teammate for four seasons.

“We've stayed in touch really well over the years,” Taillon said. “Cool seeing him back out there healthy. I know fans probably want offense, but for me, selfishly, that's a lot of fun.”

Swanson homered into the left-center bleachers off Williams in the first inning.

Cubs first baseman Michael Busch dove over the tarp and stretched into the protective netting to catch Teña’s foul pop foul for the second out in the eighth.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Nationals: RHP Zach Brzykcy was optioned to Triple-A Rochester and transferred RHP Joan Adon to the 60-day injured list.

Cubs: OF Seiya Suzuki appeared to injure his hand stealing second in the eighth. Counsell didn't have an update, but suggested it wasn't serious. ... LHP Jordan Wicks was placed on the 15-day IL with a right oblique strain retroactive to Wednesday and recalled RHP Trey Wingenter from Triple-A Iowa. Wicks had been activated from a 60-day IL on Sept. 1 following an oblique strain and was 1-2 with a 7.50 ERA in four starts. … RHP Hayden Wesneski was activated from the 15-day IL (right forearm strain) and RHP Shawn Armstrong was designated for assignment.

Washington LHP MacKenzie Gore (9-12, 4.17) faces Chicago RHP Kyle Hendricks (4-11, 6.25) on Saturday.

How can I watch Washington Nationals vs. Chicago Cubs?

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

Matchup Prediction

Cubs: 64.9%

Nationals: 35.1%

*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

	9th Inning	Baker grounded out to second.
	9th Inning	Millas struck out looking.
	9th Inning	Gallo struck out looking.
	9th Inning	Hodge relieved Miller
	8th Inning	Busch grounded out to first.
	8th Inning	Suzuki stole second.

Statistics

WSH		CHC
1	Games Played	1
1	Team Games Played	1
1	Hit By Pitch	0
10	Ground Balls	10
7	Strikeouts	7
1	Runs Batted In	3
0	Sacrifice Hit	0
5	Hits	6
0	Stolen Bases	1
3	Walks	2
0	Catcher Interference	0
1	Runs	3
0	Ground Into Double Play	0
0	Sacrifice Flies	0
32	At Bats	30
1	Home Runs	1
0	Grand Slam Home Runs	0
14	Runners Left On Base	8
0	Triples	0
0	Game Winning RBIs	1
0	Intentional Walks	0
0	Doubles	0
15	Fly Balls	13
0	Caught Stealing	0
123	Pitches	122
0	Games Started	0
0	Pinch At Bats	1
0	Pinch Hits	1
0.0	Player Rating	0.0
1	Is Qualified	1
0	Is Qualified In Steals	1
8	Total Bases	9
36	Plate Appearances	32
162.0	Projected Home Runs	162.0
1	Extra Base Hits	1
2.0	Runs Created	2.4
.156	Batting Average	.200
.000	Pinch Hit Average	1.000
.250	Slugging Percentage	.300
.188	Secondary Average	.200
.250	On Base Percentage	.250
.500	OBP Pct + SLG Pct	.550
0.7	Ground To Fly Ball Ratio	0.8
2.0	Runs Created Per 27 Outs	2.7
12.0	Batter Rating	22.0
32.0	At Bats Per Home Run	30.0
0.00	Stolen Base Percentage	1.00
3.42	Pitches Per Plate Appearance	3.81
.094	Isolated Power	.100
0.43	Walk To Strikeout Ratio	0.29
.083	Walks Per Plate Appearance	.063
.031	Secondary Average Minus Batting Average	.000
2.0	Runs Produced	6.0
1.0	Runs Ratio	1.0
0.3	Patience Ratio	0.4
0.2	Balls In Play Average	0.2
66.5	MLB Rating	73.0
0.0	Offensive Wins Above Replacement	0.0
0.0	Wins Above Replacement	0.0