Old pals Lester and Schwarber team up in 6-2 win (updated)

They are inextricably linked, primarily from their time together on the North Side of Chicago, but now without question for their time together on South Capitol Street.

There's a long way to go before Kyle Schwarber and Jon Lester make the kind of memories for the Nationals they made for six seasons together with the Cubs. But they're sure trying their best to help each other out right now, never moreso than they did tonight during a 6-2 victory over the Mets.

Starting the second game of a split doubleheader, Lester tossed six scoreless innings before allowing two runs in the top of the seventh in easily the best of his 10 outings this season. And thanks to Schwarber's pair of home runs - especially a three-run blast in the fourth - Lester emerged with his long-awaited first win as a member of the Nationals.

It's a combo that has come together on a regular basis, for reasons that are either random or evidence of something cosmic. Schwarber has now hit five of his 15 homers this season during games Lester has started. And over the length of their six-plus years as teammates, the former has now homered in 28 of the latter's starts.

"I've said it before: This is the guy who kind of took me under his wing when I was a rookie," Schwarber said of Lester during a postgame Zoom session with reporters. "He showed me what it was like to be in the big leagues and how to be a big league baseball player. To have him now be here, and I'm here with him, it's definitely fun. It's definitely special. I've seen it for years. I know what he brings to the table. And for me to be able to help him try to get to whatever goal he wants to get to, I think that's awesome. I'm happy to do it."

Tonight's exploits allowed the Nats to emerge with a split of today's pair of seven-inning games. They've won two of the first three games of this series against the division leaders and will have a chance to make it three of four and creep to within five games of New York in Sunday afternoon's finale.

"It shows us we can play with anybody," said Trea Turner, who connected for his first homer since May 17 to add to tonight's power surge. "We've got to continue to play our game and compete, but these are the guys we're going to have to track down throughout the year. Why not start now?"

Game 1 of this doubleheader began in ignominious fashion when Francisco Lindor hit the first of his two homers off Joe Ross. Game 2 began in the opposite fashion, with Schwarber returning the favor to the Mets.

The unconventional leadoff hitter continues to provide unconventional power from the top of the order, most notably in his first at-bat. This was the eighth time Schwarber has led off in the Nationals' last nine games, and he's now homered five times, four of those coming in the bottom of the first.

Whoops, make that six times, because three innings later, he did it again in an even bigger spot.

With the Nationals up 3-0 at that point thanks to Turner's solo homer in the third and Starlin Castro's RBI double earlier in the inning, the pitcher's spot came up to bat with runners on second and third and one out. If manager Davey Martinez wanted to go for the lethal blow in a shortened game, he could've sent up Ryan Zimmerman to pinch-hit right there. Instead, he let Lester bat for himself, a move he felt better about making after he heard what Schwarber told him in the dugout: "He's good. Let him hit. I'll pick him up."

And wouldn't you know that's exactly what Schwarber did after Lester struck out, delivering a towering, three-run blast to right-center off reliever Sean Reid-Foley. That homer extended the lead to 6-0 and essentially put this one on ice.

"I wanted him to go out there and keep pitching," Schwarber said. "It stinks that it's a seven-inning baseball game. I feel like if it's a nine-inning baseball game, there's no thought of him even coming out of the game. But with a seven-inning baseball game, it's a different complexion. He's pitching his butt off. Just let him go up there, and I promise you, I'm going to try to do something if he gets out ... we're going to score some runs and give him a little bit more lead to play around with. I'm happy the result came to fruition."

Lester, of course, had plenty to do with putting himself in a good position all along. He retired the first seven batters he faced, striking out three. He stranded a pair of runners on base in the fourth. And just when it looked like he might finally succumb in the sixth, he stranded another two runners in scoring position, capped with a strikeout of Kevin Pillar that was aided in large part by C.B. Bucknor's generous strike zone well beyond the outside corner.

Lester walked off the mound having thrown 95 pitches to that point, and there was every reason to believe that would be it for him tonight. But there he was, standing in the on-deck circle to bat for himself in the bottom of the sixth. And so there he was, taking the mound for the top of the seventh seeking his first start of seven innings since 2019 with the Cubs and his first shutout - yes, it would've counted as a shutout - since 2014.

"He's a competitor, he's a winner," Martinez said. "When he comes out after that sixth inning and says he wants the ball, you've got to trust him in that moment. And I did. He understood that the minute he gave up some runs, he was going to come out of the game."

Alas, Lester immediately surrendered a single to Tomás Nido and then a two-run homer to José Peraza. So that indeed brought the manager out of the dugout and sent Lester to the dugout to a standing ovation from the crowd of 22,111.

"Obviously, I would've have gotten then if it wasn't for the offense," the lefty said. "They came up big. Schwarbs again hitting homers when I pitch. Anytime he homers, it's great. But especially when I pitch, it's always nice to see."

Wander Suero would end up recording two outs in the seventh, with closer Brad Hand forced to enter to record the final out on one pitch with two runners on base, despite the four-run lead.

It didn't quite wrap up in a tidy fashion. Nonetheless, the Nationals emerged victorious for the sixth time in seven games. And they did so thanks to a couple of former buddies with the Cubs now making some new memories in D.C.

"Just all around, tonight was good," Lester said. "It was fun to be a part of."