The visiting Chicago Cubs go for their fourth straight win when they play the Washington Nationals in the middle game of their series Wednesday night.
Chicago took the series opener 8-3 and has won 13 of its past 16 games. Washington has lost two in a row after winning four straight.
Michael Busch finished Tuesday’s game a double shy of the cycle, going 3-for-4 with a walk, three RBIs and two runs scored for the Cubs.
Chicago left-hander Matthew Boyd (5-2, 3.08 ERA) opposes Washington left-hander MacKenzie Gore (2-5, 3.16) on Wednesday.
Aside from a clunker against the Cincinnati Reds on May 25 (four earned runs in four innings), Boyd has allowed three earned runs or fewer in each of his starts and has not taken a loss since April 25.
Last time out, Boyd went six innings in a win against the Colorado Rockies, allowing an unearned run on four hits while striking out eight without a walk.
“Matt was great,” manager Craig Counsell said. “His changeup was a huge pitch today. He really used it well. Got a bunch of outs. Credit to (catcher Carson Kelly) for leaning on it in some big spots. Just a well-pitched game overall.”
Boyd won his only prior start against Washington, giving up three runs in 5 2/3 innings on May 19, 2023.
Gore, meanwhile, leads the National League in strikeouts (101) and has walked just 21 batters in 68 1/3 innings.
Over his past two starts, Gore has allowed one run in 12 innings. He tossed six scoreless innings on four hits in a no-decision against the Seattle Mariners on May 29. He struck out eight without a walk and left with a 2-0 lead after pitching out of jam in the sixth.
“You don’t want people to score. It’s 2-0, really close game,” Gore said. “You also understand at that point that one swing of the bat can take the lead, so you don’t want to look too far ahead — and we did a good enough job of that, and we got out of it.”
On Tuesday night, as has often been the case, the Cubs got offense from a variety of sources.
Pete Crow-Armstrong went 1-for-3 with a double, two stolen bases, two walks and two runs scored. With his 20th steal of the season, he became the fourth-fastest major-leaguer in the modern era (since 1900), according to MLB.com, to record 15 home runs and 20 stolen bases in a season, reaching the marks in just 60 games. It was his second consecutive game with two steals.
“Utilizing my athletic ability is always nice,” Crow-Armstrong said. “And being able to do things like that is big, but all in the right kind of circumstances. So if I’m making the right plays at the right time and it’s not flashy, then oh well — that’s still how I’d like to go about my business.”
Chicago played Tuesday without outfielder Kyle Tucker, who is day to day with a jammed finger.
Luis Garcia Jr. had three hits for Washington, which had leads of 1-0 and 3-1.
“It was a weird game,” manager Dave Martinez said. “A couple of mistakes on defense. And then, really, the one inning, it was the walks. The walks got us that (fifth) inning, and then a base hit. So we’ve just got to come back tomorrow, try to eliminate all that stuff.”
–Field Level Media
