Late rally not enough for Nats, who fall 5-4 to Cubs

No matter the Cubs' current record, no matter what issues the defending champs are dealing with right now, the Nationals know they're facing a real challenge this week.

And if anyone didn't realize it before tonight's series opener on South Capitol Street, they certainly know it now.

Behind stellar pitching and the kind of fundamental execution the home team lacked, the Cubs won tonight's game 5-4, sending their legion of their fans that invaded Nationals Park home happy and nearly sending the Nats to their first shutout loss of the season before they managed a furious, last-ditch rally in the bottom of the ninth that ultimately fell short.

The majors' most productive offense, one that has scored an average of 5.65 runs per game and has reached double-digits 13 times in the season's first half, put up a zero against starter Eddie Butler and the first five of Chicago's seven relievers who pitched in this game, unable to generate anything at the plate.

Once they were down 5-0 in the ninth, though, the Nationals finally found the hits that eluded them all night. Doubles by Daniel Murphy, Michael A. Taylor and Stephen Drew (the latter two off closer Wade Davis) suddenly trimmed five-run deficit into a two-run deficit and brought the tying run to the plate with one out.

Trea Turner drew a walk, and after Brian Goodwin struck out, Bryce Harper lofted a soft liner to deep short for the single that loaded the bases for Ryan Zimmerman. Zimmerman, the focal point of last year's frustrating series at Wrigley Field who already had stranded two runners in a big spot in the bottom of the eighth, fell behind in the count 1-2, but then watched Davis uncork a wild pitch that brought one run home and advanced the tying run to third.

Needing a hit to prolong the game, though, Zimmerman struck out, a result all too familiar when these two teams have met over the last two seasons.

The Cubs got one big blast early and then tacked on insurance runs late amid a flurry of Nats miscues.

Catcher Willson Contreras led off the game with a homer to left against Gio Gonzalez, who otherwise was up to his old tricks in an effective, if not efficient, start.

The Cubs manufactured their second run during an eighth-inning rally in which only one ball left the infield. A botched double play attempt by Murphy and Turner helped prolong the inning. Then Javier Báez's steal of third with no throw set the stage for Alberto Almora Jr.'s perfectly placed squeeze bunt to bring home the night's second run.

Two more defensive miscues (errors by Matt Grace and Goodwin) let three more insurance runs to cross the plate in the ninth, making it 5-0.

With a chance to rally when they only trailed by two runs moments earlier, the Nationals got their opportunity in the bottom of the eighth, with two on, two out and Zimmerman at the plate. As the red-clad portion of the crowd of 29,651 chanting "Let's go, Ryan!" and "M-V-P!" Zimmerman worked the count full against reliever Justin Grimm, but grounded out to third.

When Contreras, the Cubs' latest unconventional leadoff man, launched Gonzalez's fifth pitch of the night into the left field bleachers, you couldn't help but wonder if this was going to be one of those slugfests that have become so prevalent across baseball in 2017.

Quite the contrary. That home run on a 3-1 fastball represented the entire offensive output of the game for both teams for seven innings.

Not that there weren't ample opportunities for more along the way.

Gonzalez, as he is wont to do, put at least one man on base in each of his six innings of work. And, as he is wont to do, Gonzalez kept the damage to a bare minimum. He stranded a runner on third base in the top of the third. He stranded two men on base in the top of the fourth. And after putting two more men on without benefit of a hit in the top of the sixth, he struck out pinch-hitter Addison Russell to quash the rally.

With that, Gonzalez continued a remarkable run this season of pitching his way out of jams. Opponents are now batting a paltry .101 (8-for-78) against him with runners in scoring position, far and away the best mark among major league starters.

The downside, of course, is that in creating so many jams Gonzalez can't maintain an efficient pitch count. And so Dusty Baker had no choice but to pull him after six innings and 113 pitches, entrusting the rest of this tight ballgame to his bullpen.

Maddon, on the other hand, could have let his starter keep going deep into the night. Through five scoreless innings, Butler had thrown only 64 pitches. The right-hander did give up his share of well-struck balls - both Harper and Zimmerman made outs on balls that departed their bats at 107 mph or more - and recorded three outs on flyballs that traveled to the warning track in center field.

So Maddon decided not to take any chances. With the pitcher's spot due up in the top of the sixth, he sent Russell to the plate to pinch-hit, then turned the rest of the game over to his bullpen.

Carl Edwards Jr. rewarded his manager's faith, striking out the heart of the Nationals lineup in the bottom of the sixth. Pedro Strop then stranded Matt Wieters (who doubled with two outs) in the bottom of the seventh, striking out Taylor looking on back-to-back pitches on either side of the plate.