Robinson's blunder costs Rendon a chance in Nats' 2-1 loss

The script seemed to be written. In his long-awaited season debut, Anthony Rendon stepped to the plate with Michael A. Taylor standing on second base and Clint Robinson on first with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and the Nationals trailing by one run. But the script went up in flames as the game ended in the unlikeliest of ways with Cubs catcher David Ross back-picking Robinson off first base to leave Rendon standing at the plate with the bat on his shoulder in the Nats' 2-1 loss.

"Just got too far, got picked off. Ballgame. Pretty much plain and simple," a dejected Robinson said. "It's frustrating. But that's on me. That can't happen. Took the bat out of Anthony's hands, one of our better hitters, and it's just on me. That can't happen. I really can't explain it. I really wasn't trying to go anywhere, I just couldn't get back fast enough."

Rendon did his part to help the Nats' sluggish offense with a single and a double in four at-bats. But it was the unknown result of his fifth at-bat that stings as the Nationals have now dropped three in a row for the second time in the last seven days.

"It's just unfortunate," Rendon said. "That's baseball, that's what happens. It's nothing you can do, just get your head up and go from there."

The Nationals left nine men on base and were a miserable 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position. They had gone 18 straight innings without scoring a run before Bryce Harper finally mustered an RBI on a bases loaded groundout in the sixth. It appeared Harper was safe on the bang-bang play. but the Nats were out of replay challenges having burned one in the fourth on a caught stealing call on Danny Espinosa that was upheld.

"It was pretty close, of course when you go back to the video and see," Harper said on his groundout. "Close call. I didn't get that one, but it would have been nice, definitely. Bases loaded with one out and Zim (Ryan Zimmerman) coming up. I think that would have changed the momentum of the game, definitely. That's pretty rough. It sucks."

After a lengthy rain delay, Gio Gonzalez came out sluggish, allowing two runs on two singles and two walks in the first. But the left-hander battled back to pitch five scoreless innings after to give the Nationals a chance.

In the end, though, it was a baffling base running blunder from Robinson that may have cost the Nats with the dangerous Rendon at the plate.

"Of course it's frustrating," Nationals manager Matt Williams said. "He's one of our guys, a good run producer. As in anything, if Anthony would've hit a three-run homer there and we ended up winning the game, we'd forget about quickly because we have another one tomorrow. We must do the same in this instance and be ready to play tomorrow."