No statement, but Nats make case beating Cubs in season series

CHICAGO - There was no trophy presentation inside the cramped visitors' clubhouse at Wrigley Field this afternoon, no champagne celebration, no extra-loud music to distinguish this from any other game the Nationals have won this season.

Maybe that says more about this team than anything else. Had they whooped it up and made a big deal out of a 9-4 victory over the Cubs - thrilling as it was - and the clinching of both this weekend series and the season series from the defending World Series champs, the Nationals perhaps would have been accused of making too big a deal on Aug. 6.

Even if everyone in the baseball-watching world was fixated on this particular three-game series as a potential preview of a National League Division Series matchup come October.

"Obviously, you put two and two together, and you think they have a pretty good chance," first baseman Ryan Zimmerman said. "But it's not like we're trying to send a message. Winning two out of three right now does nothing for us in October. And who knows, both of us could have different teams by then. You just never know what's going to happen.

"We just try to win each series, whether we're playing these guys or someone else. It's always good to win a series, no matter who you're playing."

OK, that's the right thing to say. The Nationals know better than to gloat over anything they do at this point in the season, not until they prove they can win something in the postseason.

But let's also acknowledge what they did this weekend. They took two of three from the Cubs, and they did so without Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg or Gio Gonzalez on the mound, without Trea Turner, Jayson Werth, Michael A. Taylor or Adam Eaton in the lineup.

"Any time you can win two out of three, it doesn't matter who's starting," manager Dusty Baker said. "We kind of have a M*A*S*H unit out there. Everybody's contributing. And that helps a lot when you can take two out of three without your top starters."

The Nationals won today's game despite trailing 4-1 in the seventh against Jon Lester, only to knock out the Cubs left-hander and then take down their bullpen with a furious rally capped by Matt Wieters' grand slam.

And so, should these two teams meet again in October as so many expect, they will do so with the knowledge that the Nationals won four of seven head-to-head matchups, continuing their season-long trend of beating good teams.

The Nationals now are 16-10 against the National League's five other clubs with winning records: the Dodgers, Rockies, Diamondbacks, Cubs and Brewers. They still have four more games to play against Milwaukee and three more to play against Los Angeles, but to date they have done what they need to do against the toughest opponents they face.

"Who knows," Baker said, "that maybe could come up big."

The Nats came up big this afternoon despite trailing most of the game. Erick Fedde, despite serving up three solo homers, kept the game close before departing with one out in the sixth. The Nationals finally got to Lester in the seventh with a pair of runs that trimmed the deficit to 4-3. Brandon Kintzler kept the deficit there with a scoreless bottom of the seventh (his third straight since joining the club).

And that set the stage for the dramatic rally in the eighth.

It began with Bryce Harper legging out a slow roller to second, a one-out infield single that proved huge as the inning progressed. Cubs manager Joe Maddon summoned right-hander Carl Edwards Jr. to face Zimmerman, then watched as the cleanup man sent a rocket off the center field wall for a double.

And here is where the Nationals' lineup depth paid dividends. With Daniel Murphy at the plate, Maddon elected to intentionally walk the left-handed slugger that has tortured him countless times in the last two years, but in doing so loaded the bases for Anthony Rendon.

Maddon was playing right into Baker's hands.

"That's why you like hitting Rendon behind Murphy," the Nats manager said. "Because you know most of the time he's not going to hit into a double play. He can hit the ball the other way, get you some two-out RBIs."

Rendon did deliver an RBI, but not in conventional fashion. Edwards' first-pitch breaking ball clipped Rendon in the elbow, forcing home the tying run.

And then moments later, Wieters pounced on another first-pitch breaking ball from Edwards, launching it into the bushes beyond the center field wall for his third career grand slam, the blast that gave the Nationals their first lead of the day.

"You've got to be ready for something you can get in the air," Wieters said. "He went first-pitch breaking ball, and out of his hand I recognized it. And it was something that I feel I can get in the air, and it just happened to carry out."

Brian Goodwin's tack-on homer in the top of the ninth provided even more cushion for the Nationals bullpen. Not that the new-look unit needed it. Ryan Madson got through the bottom of the eighth and produced his seventh consecutive scoreless inning since joining the club. Sean Doolittle then pitched a 1-2-3 ninth in a non-save situation, closing out yet another victory, this one perhaps a little more important than others.

"It's special," Fedde said. "You keep this team in the game, and they can really help you out. This is a special team. It's fun to come in and play some really meaningful games. It makes baseball a lot of fun."