Addison Russell's walkoff double gives Cubs big 3-2 win over Nats

In terms of sheer baseball goodness, it hasn't gotten much better this year than the Cubs' 3-2 victory Tuesday night over the Washington Nationals.

After seeing a 1-0 lead disappear in the seventh and eighth innings, the Cubs got single runs in the bottom of the eighth and the bottom of the ninth to win it at Wrigley Field.

And it was the kids who led them.

Rookie Kris Bryant hit an absolute monster home run in the eighth. Nearly everyone in the park and in the Cubs dugout lost sight of it, but the ball appeared to hit the top of the big videoboard in left field and carom down into the bleachers.

In the bottom of the ninth, rookie Addison Russell's double to the gap in right-center scored Jonathan Herrera on the game-winner with two outs. Russell was up only because of Chris Coghlan's hard slide into second base to break up a potential double play.

"It was outstanding," said Cubs manager Joe Maddon, whose team is 25-20 and showing no signs of going away, despite sporting so many young players. "That's two nights in a row of really entertaining, well-played baseball. We caught the ball. We made so many good plays tonight. I think they beat us defensively last night. We possibly beat them tonight.

"Beyond that, I will take the slide. Chris Coghlan's slide into second base right there is vital. If we can play the entire game properly for nine innings, which we did tonight, that's how you win."

Of course, everybody wanted to talk about Bryant's blast, his seventh of the year. It came an inning after his Las Vegas buddy, Bryce Harper, tied the game on a high, windblown homer to left, and a half-inning after Denard Span gave the Nats a 2-1 lead with a homer to right.

"I've hit some good home runs in my short time on this earth," said Bryant, who didn't want to rank this one.

Maddon often likes to talk about "the process" being as important as the result. Bryant worked the count against Nats reliever Aaron Barrett from 0-2 to 3-2, including fouling off a tough breaking pitch.

"I've never seen him pitch," Bryant said. "The pitch was a good one for me to hit, a two-seamer that came back over the plate. I figured I'd take one. He threw a really good slider, and I was down 0-2. I fouled off some good pitches and got one I could handle."

Bryant graciously deferred to Russell, saying it was his night because of the winning hit.

Starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks pitched well for the second straight outing, as he worked 7 innings and gave up 4 hits and Harper's homer.

Russell, along with Bryant and shortstop Starlin Castro, also made nice plays on defense.

"It's a great feeling," said Russell, who was 3-for-4 with 2 doubles. "I was seeing the ball well tonight. Things just happen, and that's why it was a great night."

Russell gave some props back to Bryant for his big homer.

"We're used to seeing it; the whole world is seeing it," he said.

Maybe they ought to get used to it.