Big series, and Chicago Cubs take opener
WASHINGTON - This matchup was one worth salivating over at the beginning of the baseball season: world-champion Chicago Cubs at perennial contenders Washington Nationals for four games.
Even though the Cubs have struggled to regain their championship form in 2017, their series with the Nationals is no less appetizing, according to Cubs manager Joe Maddon.
The Nats are dominating the National League East, while the Cubs are hanging tight in the weak NL Central.
"On the surface I think it still is all of that," Maddon said of this being an exciting series before his team went out and ground out a 5-4 victory at Nationals Park in a game they broke open with 3 runs in the ninth inning and held on in the bottom half, as the Nats scored 4 runs and had runners on second and third when the game ended.
"It was intense out there," said Maddon, whose team improved to 39-37. "If you're not with us every day and you're looking from the outside in, you're seeing the Cubs play the Nationals right now, it is exciting.
"It's just that we're attending with a different group than we thought we'd be attending this party with. So that's just the difference, and that's OK, because these guys now are getting the kind of experience that is going to be very beneficial to us in August and September. In a perverse way, it may benefit us in the long haul."
Maddon trotted out yet another different lineup. Willson Contreras made his first start as the leadoff hitter and promptly homered. He supplanted, for one day, Anthony Rizzo, who was dropped to second against tough lefty Gio Gonzalez.
The lineup also featured youngsters Ian Happ, Mark Zagunis and the just-recalled Jeimer Candelario. Maddon joked afterward that if he had trotted this starting nine out in spring training, he might have gotten a call from Major League Baseball for not fielding a representative lineup.
"I'm curious, it's a curiosity series for me," Maddon said. "We're not where we want to be, roster wise, we're waiting for some guys to get back. Younger guys getting an opportunity to play under these circumstances, which I think can only benefit us later in the year. I'm not putting a lot of stock into it, other than the curiosity factor. I think we've been playing better; that's a good thing."
Nationals manager Dusty Baker, who has been a part of winning teams as a player and as a manager, weighed in on the difficulty of repeating.
"The toughest part is probably the fact that everybody is not going to have the same kind of year," he said. "Everybody's not going to stay healthy. How many surprises can you come up with the young players? And can you come up with another one?
"You don't have much time. That's why I really appreciate the repeat champions, especially two or three times because they don't get any rest in the wintertime. Other teams are resting and recovering while they're still playing, especially your pitching staff."
The Cubs scored their second run in the eighth, when Albert Almora Jr. bunted Javier Baez in from third base. Baez, who made two spectacular defensive plays, singled, went to second on a fielder's choice and stole third base.
Closer Wade Davis had to bail out Hector Rondon in the ninth. Davis did so by striking out Ryan Zimmerman to end the game on his sixth batter faced.