Zimmerman finally delivering behind Harper (Nats up 9-1)

CHICAGO - The Bryce Harper-Ryan Zimmerman 1-2 punch doesn't exactly have a storied history at Wrigley Field. This, of course, is the venue where two years ago the Cubs did everything they could to avoid pitching to Harper and instead go after Zimmerman, who simply could not make them pay for the strategy.

So when Anthony Rendon was scratched from today's game with a bruised left wrist, it may have surprised some that Davey Martinez decided to tweak his lineup by moving Harper into the No. 3 position and Zimmerman into the cleanup spot.

Three innings down, it looks like a genius move.

Zimmerman has driven in all three of the game's runs so far, helping the Nationals jump out to a 3-0 lead against Jon Lester.

After watching the afternoon's first three batters face a total of only four pitches from Lester - Adam Eaton and Trea Turner each made outs before Harper lined a single to right-center - Zimmerman worked the veteran left-hander through an eight-pitch at-bat. And then he clobbered Lester's final fastball to left-center, into the bleachers for his eighth homer of the season to put the Nats up 2-0 in the first.

Two innings later, Zimmerman came up to bat with Turner on third - he singled, stole second off Lester and kept going to third when Willson Contreras' throw was wild - and nearly duplicated his feat. The crack of his bat left the crowd thinking he might have homered again, but the ball didn't carry as far and was caught at the warning track in center. Turner still raced home on the sacrifice fly, extending the Nationals' lead to 3-0.

Tanner Roark, pitching in front of friends and family from nearby Wilmington, Ill., has allowed five batters to reach base in three innings but only one run to score so far.

After allowing back-to-back singles to open the third, Roark got Javy Baez to loft a routine flyball to right-center. But Eaton and Harper nearly collided on the play, and though Eaton caught the ball, he quickly dropped it on the transfer.

Umpires still ruled it a catch, but Albert Almora Jr. was able to trot home on the sacrifice fly to get the Cubs on the board and trim the Nationals' lead to 3-1.

Update: If the Zimmerman-batting-cleanup move made Martinez look like a genius after three innings, what does that make him after four innings? A Rhodes Scholar? Zimmerman did it again in his third plate appearance of the afternoon, launching a three-run homer to nearly the same spot in left-center as his first one. Prior to today, he was 5-for-49 with four RBIs at Wrigley Field in the Joe Maddon Era (2015-present). Through four innings today, he's 2-for-2 with two homers, six RBIs and a sac fly that was only a few feet from clearing the fence itself. What a day for Zim, and what a day for the Nats, who now lead 9-1. Daniel Murphy also took Lester deep in the fourth, capping a six-run inning to knock the lefty from the game.