Cubs just going about their business

There was a special buzz around Wrigley Field Wednesday night.

Cubs manager Joe Maddon was hoping it didn't reach into his team's clubhouse.

Game 3 of the series between the Cubs and Washington Nationals featured the marquee pitching matchup between aces Jon Lester of the Cubs and Max Scherzer of the Nats.

Scherzer and the Nats got the best of it, beating the Cubs 3-0 take two of three in the series.

"Both sides did pitch extremely well," said Maddon, whose team fell to 25-21. "We didn't play as well as we did last night. We made some gaffes tonight. But overall, I want to say it was a well-played, hard-fought series. I didn enjoy it from that perspective. The take-away is we can play with these guys. I feel very confident about that moving forward as we continue to get better. Entertaining baseball at Wrigley Field the last three days."

Maddon has preached since spring training that he doesn't want any one game taking on any greater importance than any other.

So he wanted no extraordinary excitement from his team.

"I'd be disappointed if there was, honestly," he said. "I'm really impressed every day I walk in that clubhouse, with our guys and how they go about their business. We've had some really difficult losses this year, and I walk in there the next day, and it's like, 'Wow, they got it. They get it. That's yesterday. This is today.'

"I've talked about it before, not to put any more weight to any specific game. They all count for one."

Cubs president Theo Epstein made a pregame appearance on the field and lauded the work of his young team, which has passed the Memorial Day milepost as an early-season contender.

"It's great to be around," Epstein said. "These guys are handling themselves on and off the field in a manner well beyond their years.

"When you see the quality at-bats they're having the great plays they're making, and they're participating in some winning baseball, it's easy to forget how hard it is for young position players to have any kind of success in 2015 major-league baseball."

The pitching duel between Lester (4-3) and Scherzer (6-3) pretty much lived up to the billing, although Lester did endure a long fourth inning, when he threw 34 pitches and the Nationals scored an unearned run.

Lester wound up working 7 innings, giving up 7 hits while walking two and striking out 10. Scherzer was sharp. He fanned 13 while giving up 5 hits in 7 innings.

The Nats scored once in Lester's long fourth. Yunel Escobar led off with a single, and Bryce Harper walked. Ryan Zimmerman hit a potential double-play grounder to shortstop Starlin Castro, but second baseman Addison Russell's relay got past first baseman Anthony Rizzo for a throwing error, allowing Escobar to score.

Harper, the early favorite for MVP honors in the National League, hit his second homer in two days and his 18th of the season when he led off the sixth with a drive into the left-center-field bleachers.