Chicago’s Ian Happ looks to continue his rebound at the plate when the Cubs open a three-game series on Tuesday at the Washington Nationals.
Chicago, winners of six of seven, has a firm grip on the top NL wild-card spot. On Sunday, the Cubs beat the Kansas City Royals 10-2 to complete a stretch of 17 consecutive games without a day off with a 12-5 record.
Washington, coming off a sweep of the Cincinnati Reds and still playing without James Wood, sits 4 1/2 games out of a wild-card spot.
Happ ended an 0-for-22 skid with a home run on Saturday night and added a two-run shot on Sunday. In his last seven at-bats, he has produced five hits.
“He’s the one guy not happy about (the off-day),” manager Craig Counsell joked after Sunday’s game.
Left-hander Shota Imanaga (8-9, 3.60 ERA) pitches the series opener for the Cubs and will be opposed by right-hander Jake Irvin (2-5, 5.37).
Imanaga’s ERA sat at 4.40 on June 24, but he has allowed two earned runs or fewer in each of his last seven starts. Last time out, he gave up a run on eight hits over five innings to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers. He struck out six without a walk.
“I think the big thing was no walks on a day like today, with the wind blowing out,” Counsell said Aug. 5. “He had to make some big pitches. There were men on base. He gave up some hits, but the no walks I think that was really important.”
Imanaga lost his first start of the season to Washington, giving up four runs on six hits over five innings on March 29. For his career, he is 2-1 with a 3.50 ERA in three starts against the Nationals.
Irvin will be making his third start since coming off the injured list. He beat the Philadelphia Phillies on Aug. 5, giving up two runs on three hits over 5 1/3 innings. Irvin retired the last 12 batters he faced and was lifted after throwing 83 pitches.
Irvin beat Imanaga and the Cubs in that March 29 game at Wrigley Field, allowing two runs and three hits over five innings. He is 1-4 with an 8.54 ERA in six career starts versus Chicago.
The Nationals’ bullpen deserved credit for completing the sweep on Sunday against the Reds. Opener Brad Lord gave up a run in his 2 2/3 innings, then Will Dion tossed three scoreless innings for the win. Trevor Williams added 2 1/3 scoreless before Jake Bird pitched the ninth.
“The theme I saw was strikes — nine strikeouts — no walks,” Nationals manager Blake Butera said. “We’re going to have a chance to win a lot of games when that’s the line. … These guys did an outstanding job of working through this lineup.”
Abimelec Ortiz had two hits including a home run for Washington, which has won four of five after losing seven in a row. Keibert Ruiz went 3-for-3 with a walk.
It was just the second three-game sweep of the season for the Nats and the first since April.
Matthew Boyd pitched seven strong innings on Sunday and the Cubs collected 18 hits, including three by Happ. Miguel Amaya smacked a three-run homer, Michael Busch provided a double and two singles and Alex Bregman had three singles.
–Field Level Media
