The Chicago Cubs mustered only four hits and one run on Wednesday night, and that was far from enough to topple the Washington Nationals. The Nationals smashed six homers — three off of starter Chris Volstad — en route to a 9-1 victory that puts them in position to sweep the Cubs on Thursday with a win.
The Nats got the scoring started in the bottom of the first with an Adam LaRoche RBI single in the center, before adding four runs in the third on homers from Roger Bernadina (solo), Bryce Harper (solo) and LaRoche (two-run). Harper would homer again in the sixth, and the Nats would homer twice more in the seventh to go up 9-0. The only thing that saved the Cubs from being shut out was an Anthony Rizzo solo homer in the bottom of the ninth.
The two teams will complete their series on Thursday at 6:05 p.m. CT.
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