The Chicago Cubs will try to continue taking advantage of a soft part of their schedule when they host the Washington Nationals on Saturday afternoon.
After taking two of three games from the Colorado Rockies and Atlanta Braves, the Cubs have a chance to win their third straight series with another victory against the Nationals.
After this three-game series concludes on Sunday, the Cubs will play three more games against the Braves, followed by three against the Tampa Bay Rays and Pittsburgh Pirates. All but the Rays are below .500.
Chicago (81-60), which holds the first wild-card spot in the National League, won the series opener against the Nationals (56-84) on Friday afternoon, blasting four home runs in an 11-5 victory.
Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner, who hit a solo shot in the sixth inning, said his team is coming together at a good time.
“Starting pitching, bullpen, defense and offense,” he said. “We’ve done it all in parts of the year. To be able to put it all together in the postseason would be a special thing.”
Chicago left-hander Matthew Boyd will look for a fresh start when he takes the mound on Saturday. Boyd (12-7, 2.94 ERA) is coming off his worst month of the season, in which he went 1-3 in six starts in August, with a 4.54 ERA.
He did not receive a decision after giving up four runs and six hits in six innings of a 6-5 loss to the Colorado Rockies last Sunday.
“I could’ve been more aggressive on the plate,” Boyd said. “We kind of made that adjustment as the game went on, but it’s one of those things where I didn’t need to be as fine, right? There’s no excuse. I just didn’t need to do it, and I did.”
Boyd lost 2-0 to the Nationals on June 4 despite allowing just two runs and four hits over 7 1/3 innings. He’s made one other start against Washington in his career and is 1-1 overall with a 3.46 ERA.
The Nationals plan to start right-hander Brad Lord on Saturday.
Lord (4-8, 4.34) has struggled in his past two outings. He surrendered seven runs (six earned) and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings of a 10-5 loss to the New York Yankees on Aug. 25, and then seven runs and five hits in three innings of a 7-4 loss to the Rays last Sunday.
“I’ve got to get ahead of hitters,” he said. “I’ve been falling behind a lot more. … It’s just staying on the attack, keep your foot on the gas and just go out there and compete.”
Lord has thrown 103 2/3 innings in his rookie season but said he still feels capable of getting outs.
“This time of the season, it’s rare for a lot of guys to feel 100 percent every outing, and it’s just finding ways to battle through that,” he said. “Just got to be mentally stronger this time of the year and just find a way to compete and get outs.”
Lord threw a scoreless inning of relief against the Cubs on June 4 in his only appearance against them.
–Field Level Media
