Nats can not close Cubs out of nine, but still sweep 11 (update)



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CHICAGO – The first two games of a long-awaited weekend series have been out of balance, the citizens clearly outclassing the Cubs on their own ground.

The final today? It was the game that everyone had been waiting for from the start: a close, well-played and equally equal match between two contenders for the National League.

And when it finally ended four and a half hours later and 40,518 people found themselves in the streets of Wrigleyville, it was the Nationals who celebrated in the middle of the diamond, after an impressive sweep of three games against a team. . who had only lost another home series all year.

<img alt = "Rendon-Handshake-Soto-Black-PW-Sidebar.jpg" src = "https://www.masnsports.com/nationals-pastime/images/Rendon-Handshake-Soto-Black-PW-Sidebar. jpg "width =" 375 "height =" 247 "class =" mt-image-right "style =" float: right; margin: 0 0 20px 20px; "/ / Despite the fact that they lost a lead of three the Nationals trailed long enough to win with a 7-5 win in 11 innings, Howie Kendrick, Trea Turner and Anthony Rendon and then two brave sleeves of relief from Daniel Hudson to escape Wrigley Field with three consecutive wins that have left the clubhouse both jubilant, exhausted and emotional.

"They are very resilient," said Davey Martinez in one of the many post-match moments during which the sophomore nearly broke up. "I tell you, I repeat from the beginning: they will not stop smoking. That's what they are.

There is something in this incarnation of this franchise, something that even previous versions that escaped with division titles did not possess. Admittedly, they are defective, but they are also extremely talented and extremely tenacious.

"We never give up," Rendon said. "We continue to fight, we continue to play nine innings, 10 innings, 11 innings. Whatever it is, we just continue to grind. "

How else to explain a reversal that lasted half a season of baseball? Since hitting a low of 19 to 31 on May 23, the Nationals beat 56-24. This is not only the best record of the majors in this period, but also the best sequence of 80 matches in the history of the club, better than any other victory won by the winners of the four divisions.

"It's very funny," said Martinez. "And I pay tribute to those guys to stick to it, because they could easily have gone south when things were not going well. But they did not do it. It's a testimony for the veterans, for the coaching staff, for me (the general manager Mike Rizzo), to stay constantly positive and bring energy every day with these guys. They bring energy every day. We are running well and it's fun. But we have a day off and we know that on Tuesday we have to come back and start again. "

Down but not eliminated after giving way to eighth place and miss another opportunity to score in the ninth, the Nats took the lead at the top of the eleventh, the rally ignited by Kendrick's single off Tyler Chatwood. Turner's double in the center-right would have been enough to score most of the riders since the start, but third baseman Bob Henley has not taken any chances with Kendrick (who is struggling with problems at home). hamstrings for months).

No problem, because Kendrick would score a few moments later on the rugged terrain of Chatwood. Rendon then nailed on a key insurance race with only one left, giving National's cushion an extra cushion the day the offensive was to help the rest of the team.

"I said at the beginning of the year when you asked us this question: our throwers will take us often in the hands, in the matches where we do not score any point or maybe a point," said Rendon. "But it's our job as a hitter, a positioner, to recover our pitchers. It's not necessarily one-way. Our defense must resume our throws, and our throwers must take up our attack. "

Hudson, who had thrown 19 shots to close Saturday's win and 10 left off the team at the bottom of the 10th day, returned to the mound for the bottom of the 11th and pulled the team to close only third place Nats. win in nine more games of the season this season.

"I told him," Hey, give me what you have, "Martinez said," If you're at a point where you do not have enough, then you're done. "

"One time, he said that, I thought I would probably go back whatever happened," Hudson said. "So, somehow, he locked the door and prepared to go out."

Tied 2-2 in seventh place, the Nationals took the lead with two wins from two outings. Juan Soto and Asdrúbal Cabrera. Soto's single, in which he faced the southpaw Kyle Ryan in a seven-lap bat attack and beat the line to beat Javier Báez after a dive stop, put the Nats at the top and was to be admired by all those who witnessed it.

"I just tried to beat myself," Soto said. "I got angry after the referee made a phone call, like two balls inside. I said, "Well, I have to fight now." I just tried to put the ball in the game and run as hard as possible to first base. "

Cabrera's two straight-back strokes were scored by a pair of insurance points and gave the national scorer a 5-2 lead.

It was not enough that day. Hunter Strickland served a clear shot, two one-and-a-half just inside the right field post down the seventh. Fernando Rodney then made a two-ball outing for Báez and left a fast 2-0 ball to Kyle Schwarber, who put it in the blank to tie the match up again and leave the public delirious.

With a chance to take the lead of ninth place against Craig Kimbrel, the Nationals got a lead from Turner before seeing Victor Robles open a pin on the first pitch that he saw. It turned out to be critical moments later, when Rendon picked the center, allowing Turner to qualify for second place instead of scoring whether Robles had been able to move him forward.

Still, the Nats still had a chance to get to Kimbrel with the heart of their lineup. But the laser at Soto's center at 108.7 mph was hit directly by Jason Heyward for the second outing. And Cabrera, after escaping two good fast balls, could not press the ball 3-2, leaving the game tied at the end of the ninth and finally in supplements.

The Nationals did not score early, but they scored again first. After the two Stephen Strasburg and Cole Hamels each scored three consecutive zeros, Rendon managed to break the deadlock with a powerful shot from the left field. His 421-foot circuit, released from a 0-2 fastball, cleared the bleachers and landed on Waveland Avenue, a very impressive way for Rendon to clinch his 29th run and his 103rd run point of the season.

The Nationals had the opportunity to do more damage against Hamels. They just could not do enough to scratch another round until sixth. And even then, they had the impression that they should have scored more than one point.

A double from Soto and a Cabrera single left the riders at the corners and eliminated Hamels from the match. David Phelps faced off against Kurt Suzuki and, although the national receiver got a point at home, he did it at the expense of two withdrawals via a 6-4-3 double play.

All this put additional pressure on Strasbourg, which left little room for error. The right-hander was not at his best, but he managed to make big shots when he really needed it.

The Cubs went up on the board at the end of the fifth, when Addison Russell had just enough change in Strasbourg to send the ball into the basket that hovers over the left field wall. A round later, they drew, but they could not take the lead.

Strasburg seemed to falter when he cleared a single at Kris Bryant's RBI, leaving the match 2-2 tied with two on, no player missing and his throws number exceeding three digits. It was at this moment that he delivered his best sequence of the afternoon. He took the lead on Báez with curved balls, and then finished with a change of course. He made sure that Schwarber flew weakly to the left. And then, he made Jonathan Lucroy feel a 2-2 curved ball on his 113th throw in the afternoon, keeping the game tied and deserving of the praise of his teammates and coaches on his return. canoe.

"Just do it one step at a time," Strasburg said. "There's still a lot of baseball game, I try to do it all the way through the game, sometimes they'll score, sometimes they're not, but I'm just trying to go and to make good shots. "

This game was now in the hands of both courts, the result being very indeterminate.

And although the Nationals feather is far from being at its best, the Nationals' squad is catching up with one of its most impressive performances of an already remarkable season.

"They feel like they're never in a game," said Martinez. "And that's our attitude. I can tell you that the attitude I instilled is: "This game is not over until the last game. Keep playing hard. Anything can happen. "

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