Cubs Survive Six-Homer Slugfest, Outlast Nationals 8-6
Six home runs flew out of the park on Tuesday night, and Chicago still needed a four-run fourth inning to wrestle control away from Washington. The Cubs took it 8-6, but this one was messier than the final score suggests.
Washington drew first blood in a big way. CJ Abrams launched a 364-foot shot to right in the first, scoring House and swinging the home win probability from 46% to 65% — the single biggest momentum shift of the night. Jacob Young piled on with a 427-foot blast to center in the second, and suddenly the Cubs were staring at a 3-1 hole with Shota Imanaga laboring. Imanaga would finish with 4.2 innings pitched, allowing 6 hits and 4 earned runs while striking out 5 — a night that looks, on paper, like a near-disaster averted only by the offense behind him.
The Cubs answered with volume. Pete Crow-Armstrong hit a 437-foot shot to right in the third to cut it to 3-2, and then the fourth inning turned the game entirely. A Conforto sacrifice fly tied it, a fielder's choice put Chicago ahead, and Seiya Suzuki's double to left made it 5-3. Bregman crossed the plate on a walk in the fifth to push the lead to 6-3, and that's when the Cubs appeared to take the wheel for good. Alex Bregman — who crossed the plate three times — added his own exclamation point with a 374-foot homer to left in the sixth to make it 7-4. Suzuki capped his night with a 409-foot shot to center in the eighth, finishing 2-for-5 with a homer, 2 RBI, and a run scored. Bregman went 2-for-4 with a homer, an RBI, and 3 runs scored — the story of the night offensively for Chicago.
Washington refused to go quietly. The Nationals used a successful challenge in the eighth to overturn a call and get a run on the board, then added another on a Nuñez single to center, trimming the deficit to 8-6. Dylan Crews had homered to center for 414 feet in the fifth, and the Nationals' four long balls on the night — from Abrams, Young, Crews, and a combined effort that kept this game feeling live — make it clear this Washington lineup isn't easy to put away. Miles Mikolas lasted just 3 innings for Washington, allowing 1 hit and 1 earned run, which looks like a short leash that ultimately cost the Nationals. Jacob Webb and Trent Thornton combined for 2.1 scoreless innings out of the Chicago bullpen to close it out, and that relief work appears to be what separated these two teams in the end.