Late-inning mistakes ruin Nats' comeback in 3-2 walk-off loss

A well-pitched and well-played game was marred by two late gaffes as the Nationals wasted a nice comeback in a 3-2 walk-off loss to the Cubs.

Storms blowing through Chicago left behind gusty winds at Wrigley Field that figured to provide fireworks tonight. But the Nationals' Jordan Zimmermann and the Cubs' Kyle Hendricks pitched gems, allowing just a solo home run apiece as both starters pitched seven complete innings.

Cubs center fielder Dexter Fowler tagged Zimmermann for a leadoff homer in the first. But then Zimmermann settled in, holding the Cubs scoreless for the next six straight innings.

"It was a battle tonight, for sure," Zimmermann said to reporters. "Early on, it just wasn't there but then after the first couple innings, I started getting a feel. My slider was good and I was able to break the curveball out late and get a few strikeouts. That's a good lineup. I had to battle, for sure."

Meanwhile, Hendricks was rolling. The 25-year-old blanked the Nats for the first six innings while surrendering just three hits. Then the wind came back into play. Leading off the seventh, Bryce Harper thought he popped up a 3-1 sinker to left. With a look of frustration, Harper tossed his bat in disgust. When he peeked back up, the baseball was still carrying to left field, eventually sailing about three rows deep beyond the wall. The surprising solo homer evened the game and tied Harper for the major league-lead with 17 dingers.

"I don't think he hit it as well as he wanted to but it's Wrigley. ... It happens," Nationals manager Matt Williams said to reporters.

It may have been a little later than expected, but then the balls started flying out of Wrigley. With two outs in the eighth, Denard Span unleashed another solo homer, his second in as many days. Span has already equaled his home run total of five from last season in his 29th game this year.

It looked like Span's blast placed Zimmermann in position to earn his first win ever at Wrigley Field in four tries. But in the bottom of the inning, the Cubs' outstanding rookie, Kris Bryant, absolutely mashed a hanging slider off right-hander Aaron Barrett high off the scoreboard in left-center field. The solo blast tied the game up. Bryant, who also homered on Monday, was the only batter Barrett faced as Williams turned to left-hander Matt Thornton to record the next three outs and finish the inning.

After playing eight innings of superb baseball, the Nats saved some not-so memorable moments for the ninth.

Yunel Escobar led off with a single and represented the go-ahead run. He stole second base to put himself in scoring position as Ryan Zimmerman looked at strike three for the second out. With a solid run producer in Wilson Ramos at the plate, Escobar then made a perplexing play. With Ramos in a full count, Escobar broke for third base. Cubs reliever Hector Rondon never made a move toward the plate and simply stepped off and threw to the third baseman Bryant, who easily placed the tag on Escobar to end the inning. It was Escobar's second base running mistake of the game after being picked off at first base to end the game's opening frame with Harper at the plate.

Williams called on lefty Matt Grace to start the ninth. With one out and a runner on first, Cubs pinch-hitter Jonathan Herrera hit a grounder to Danny Espinosa. Espinosa flipped to Ian Desmond for the force at second, but Desmond didn't end the play there. The result was the shortstop's 13th error of the season as he made an ill-advised wild throw to first that was nowhere in the vicinity of the bag. The ball ended up in the Nationals dugout and Herrera was left standing on second base in position to score.

"Desi's trying to make a play out of something that he can't make a play out of," Williams said to reporters. "That ball's not hit hard enough to turn two there, and he tried to transfer it quickly and just threw it wide."

Williams was forced to move his outfielders in with the scoring situation. Moments later, another of the Cubs' talented rookies, second baseman Addison Russell, laced a ball just beyond the reach of Span, into the gap in right-center for a walk-off RBI double.

"With the wind, we gotta play no doubles there with a man on first base," Williams explained the strategy of the last play to reporters. "But with a man on second, if we play too deep, we got no chance to throw him out anyway. So he's gotta play regular depth."

A pair of aces will try to win the series for their teams on Wednesday as Nats' right-hander Max Scherzer takes on Cubs' southpaw Jon Lester. The Nats are in position to win their ninth consecutive series.