Washington Nationals vs Chicago Cubs Box Score on Aug 06, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Aug 6, 2017

CHICAGO -- Matt Wieters hit a tie-breaking grand slam as the Washington Nationals rallied for five runs in eighth inning and went on to defeat the Chicago Cubs 9-4 on Sunday.

Trailing 4-3 entering the eighth, Washington loaded the bases with one out, then knotted it when Cubs reliever Carl Edwards Jr. hit Anthony Rendon with a pitch to force in a run.

Wieters, who had five RBIs in the game, followed with his eighth homer of the season and third career grand slam.

Brian Goodwin added a solo shot and had two RBIs and Rendon drove in two runs as the National League East-leading Nationals rebounded to take two of three games in Chicago.

Hot-hitting Willson Contreras launched a pair of home runs and Kyle Schwarber added a solo shot for the Cubs, whose bullpen melted down after another solid start by Jon Lester.

Javier Baez also drove in a run for the Cubs, who are 15-7 since the All-Star break and remained a half-game ahead of second-place Milwaukee in the NL Central.

Chicago's Jason Heyward had three hits, including his 1,000th career hit.

Contreras has homered five times in his last four games and also went deep twice on Thursday against Arizona. The Cubs' energetic second-year catcher has homered 10 times since the All-Star break and belted 16 of his 21 home runs this season since June 19.

Brandon Kintzler (3-2), the second of four Washington relievers, pitched a scoreless seventh to earn his first win since coming to the Nationals in a trade from Minnesota. Edwards (3-3) allowed four runs in two-thirds of an inning in taking the loss.

Lester pitched 6 2/3 innings and allowed three runs. The veteran lefty struck out seven on Sunday and has fanned 36 in 32 2/3 innings since the All-Star break.

Nationals right-hander Erick Fedde allowed four runs on eight hits in 5 1/3 innings in his second big-league start. The 24-year-old was recalled from Triple-A Syracuse to fill in for ace Max Scherzer, whose start was pushed back to Monday because of discomfort in his neck.

Fedde retired the first five hitters his faced, striking out three. But Ian Happ, Heyward and Baez singled with two outs in the second to put Chicago ahead 1-0. Fedde fanned Lester to end the threat.

Washington's Wilmer Difo lined a triple just beyond the reach of center fielder Jon Jay to lead off the third. He came home to tied it at 1 when Schwarber couldn't hang on to Goodwin's sinking liner in left field.

Contreras crushed his first homer to the top of the left field bleachers on 2-1 pitch to lead off the fourth to put Chicago back ahead 2-1.

Conteras went deep again off Fedde -- this time midway up the left-center bleachers -- to lead off the sixth. Schwarber followed with his 18th homer into the first row in right center to make it 4-1.

The Nationals trimmed it to 4-3 in the seventh on a doubles by Daniel Murphy and Rendon and a sacrifice fly by Difo. Jay made a nifty running catch on Difo's drive, colliding with the wall once he hauled it in.

After jumping ahead 8-4 in the eighth, Goodwin added a solo shot in the ninth.

NOTES: Nationals RHP Erick Fedde, 24, was drafted 18th overall in 2014 and is rated as in the No. 2 prospect in Washington's system by Baseball America. The 6-foot 4 righty made his major league debut on July 30 versus Colorado and allowed seven funs in four innings in a loss. ... Chicago 3B Kris Bryant was limping slightly after running out ground out in the first, but stayed in the game. ... The Cubs recalled INF Tommy La Stella from Triple-A Iowa before Sunday's game. LHP Rob Zastryzny was optioned to the farm club. The 28-year-old La Stella joined Chicago for the fourth time this season. He is hitting .298 with six RBIs in 37 games with the Cubs this season. ... Each Cubs player had a leather motorcycle vest bearing his nickname hanging in his locker before the game as Chicago begins another themed road trip at San Francisco on Monday night. ... Emmy Award-winning actor William H. Macy threw out the first pitch and led the crowd in "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the seventh-inning stretch.