Yan Gomes went 2-for-5 with two doubles and two RBIs, and the Washington Nationals pulled away for a 7-2 win over the host Chicago Cubs on Saturday afternoon.
Howie Kendrick drove in two runs and Anthony Rendon, Juan Soto and Adam Eaton (NYSE:ETN) also drove in one run apiece for the Nationals, who will go for the series sweep on Sunday. Washington has won four games in a row, six of seven and 11 of 13.
Nicholas Castellanos and Jonathan Lucroy each drove in a run for Chicago. Javier Baez finished 2-for-4 with a double for the Cubs, who dropped their second straight game after winning the previous five in a row.
Nationals right-hander Wander Suero (4-7) picked up the victory with two-thirds innings of scoreless relief. Suero replaced starter Joe Ross, who allowed two runs on six hits in 4 1/3 innings while walking four and striking out three.
Cubs left-hander Jose Quintana (11-8) drew the loss after giving up five runs (four earned) on seven hits in four innings. He walked three and struck out three.
Washington grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first on Rendon's sacrifice fly to deep left field. The fly ball scored Trea Turner and increased Rendon's career-high RBI total to 101.
In the third, Washington added four more runs against Quintana to extend its lead to 5-0. The Nationals loaded the bases with nobody out for Juan Soto, who drove in the first run of the inning on a groundout. Kendrick came through in the next at-bat with an RBI single, and Gomes contributed a two-run single three batters later.
The Cubs trimmed the deficit to 5-1 in the bottom of the third when Castellanos singled to drive in Victor Caratini. Castellanos has 14 RBIs in 22 games since joining Chicago just before the trade deadline.
Lucroy pulled Chicago within 5-2 in the fifth with a pinch-hit, ground-rule double. Lucroy's extra-base hit scored Castellanos, who singled to right-center field and advanced to second base on a walk by Kris Bryant.
Washington tacked on another run in the sixth. Gerardo Parra swiped second base and third base before scoring on a groundout by Eaton.
Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo left the game in the fifth because of mid-back tightness, according to the team.
--Field Level Media