The Nationals will hand the ball to left-hander Gio Gonzalez for tonight's deciding Game 5 against the Cubs in the National League Division Series at Nationals Park.
Gonzalez got a no-decision in Game 2, going five innings, allowing three runs on three hits with two walks and six strikeouts. The Nats used a five-run eighth inning to come back and beat the Cubs 6-3.
"Bottom line, we won," Gonzalez said. "The team won. We won together. I was just trying to keep us as close as possible in this game, and the rest of the guys that we believed in from Day One stepped up and won this game. And our bullpen deserves every bit of this credit right now. They did a hell of a job."
Even with Gonzalez starting, you would assume the Nats would go to starters Tanner Roark and Max Scherzer out of the bullpen in an all-hands-on-deck Game 5.
The Cubs will start Kyle Hendricks, but likely will have starters José Quintana and John Lackey working out of the 'pen in the must-win situation. Hendricks started Game 1 and earned the victory, going seven innings without allowing a run.
The Nationals are looking to win a Game 5 elimination game for the first time in franchise history. They lost to the Cardinals in 2012 and Dodgers in 2016 in NLDS Game 5s at Nationals Park.
NATIONAL LEAGUE DIVISION SERIES - GAME 5
CHICAGO CUBS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 8:08 p.m. Eastern time
TV: TBS, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, ESPN Radio, XM 184/869, MLB.com
Weather: Cloudy, 62 degrees, wind 10 mph out to right field
NATIONALS
SS Trea Turner
LF Jayson Werth
RF Bryce Harper
1B Ryan Zimmerman
2B Daniel Murphy
3B Anthony Rendon
C Matt Wieters
CF Michael A. Taylor
LHP Gio Gonzalez
CUBS
LF Jon Jay
3B Kris Bryant
1B Anthony Rizzo
C Willson Contreras
CF Albert Almora Jr.
SS Addison Russell
RF Jason Heyward
2B Javier Báez
RHP Kyle Hendricks
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