Chicago Cubs take down Nationals in dramatic fashion: Recap, highlights and more

With a big ninth-inning rally, the Chicago Cubs were able to come from behind to beat the Washington Nationals on Thursday.

Well, that was a surprising turn of events. The Chicago Cubs entered the ninth inning, trailing the Washington Nationals by a score of 4-2. However, they were able to rally against Blake Trienen, scoring three runs in the ninth to win the game. The big blow was a two-run, two-out double by Jon Jay that gave the Cubs the lead. Wade Davis came in and saved the game for the Cubs in the ninth.

The Cubs’ ninth-inning rally came primarily with two outs, which is always great to see. Javier Baez laced an opposite-field single with two outs, moving Victor Caratini to third base. Caratini scored on a single by Tommy La Stella in the next at-bat and Jay’s double came right after that to account for the three runs.

Chicago and Washington traded runs in the first inning, with the Cubs scoring on a Willson Contreras RBI single, and the Nationals’ run coming on a Ryan Zimmermann double. That score held all the way to the seventh inning when Jeimer Candelario hit a solo home run to give the Cubs a 2-1 lead. Candelario’s bomb to centerfield was the first home run of his major league career.

However, that lead was short-lived, as the Nationals scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning off of Carl Edwards Jr. Edwards did not have good command and gave up a two-run home run to Anthony Rendon. That 4-2 score held until the ninth inning rally. Pedro Strop came in and finished the seventh inning for the Cubs. Strop did a nice job of limiting the damage and is an unsung hero in this game.

Highlights

Candelario’s first career major league home run:

Rendon’s blast off of Edwards:

Jon Jay’s double gives Chicago the win!

Three Stars

1. Jon Jay: When Jay stepped to the plate in the ninth inning, he was 0-for-4 on the day. However, he stepped up when his team needed him the most and came up with the biggest hit of the day.

2. Jon Lester: Lester was not at his best on Thursday, but he grinded through six innings and only allowed that one first-inning run. He gave up three hits and walked three batters, but Lester was able to keep the Cubs in the ballgame.

3. Jeimer Candelario: Candelario went 1-for-3 on the day, but it was a big one. His first major league home run came at a big time and hopefully is a sign of things to come.

Next: Alex Avila a trade target for Cubs?

Up Next

The Cubs and Nationals split this four-game set and will now go their separate ways. The Cubs will now head to Cincinnati to take on the Reds for a three-game weekend series, while the Nationals will travel to take on the St. Louis Cardinals over the weekend.