Cubs' Edwards rebounds from Game 2 woes

Even after giving up a game-tying home run in Game 2 of the National League championship series in Washington, Cubs reliever Carl Edwards Jr. wanted the ball.

Maybe especially after giving up that crushing blast, Edwards wanted the ball.

He got it again in the eighth inning of Game 3 on Monday, with the score tied at 1-1. Edwards got Nationals leadoff man Trea Turner (0-for-12 in the series) to groundout.

As a special "bonus," he got Harper again. This time, he struck out the Washington slugger and then retired Anthony Rendon on a groundout.

"I was really excited," said Edwards, who gave way to closer Wade Davis. "I told you last outing that wanted (the ball) really, really bad. Just be getting back out there really helped that a lot."

And what about facing Harper again?

"The guy can it, man," Edwards said. "He's not, you know, Bryce Harper for nothing. The guy's good. And you know, it's just nice to get back up there against him."

Manager Joe Maddon said he had confidence in Edwards all along.

"I talked to him, I patted him on the plane the other night," Maddon said. "I just said, 'Hey, man, we're good.' And he smiled, and I knew he was fine. Watched him (Sunday) in our little brunch outside and saw him talking with his family and everybody. Looked good."

Another new lineup:

Joe Maddon went with his third different leadoff man of the NLDS, going with Jon Jay after Ben Zobrist and Albert Almora Jr. led off Games 1 and 2, respectively.

Javier Baez sat at the start as Ben Zobrist played at second base. Maddon was trying to load up on left-handed hitters against Nationals ace Max Scherzer.

"I just wanted to get one more lefty," Maddon said. "That's what it was. One more left-handed bat in the lineup. I wanted to get Jon Jay a start."

He said it:

Nationals left fielder Jayson Werth on Anthony Rizzo's tiebreaking bloop hit in the eighth inning: "Three guys converging, tough play. A game like that, you can't hear anything. No man's land. I felt like I really didn't have chance. But I went back and looked at it (on replay) and maybe I did. In the moment, tough for someone to call. Can't hear anything."

This and that:

The previous time the Cubs committed 4 errors in a postseason game was Game 2 of the 2008 NLDS against the Dodgers, when they also committed 4 ... Jose Quintana became the fifth pitcher in Cubs history to work at least 5 innings without an earned run in his first career playoff appearance. Jake Arrieta was the previous pitcher to do it, in the 2015 wild-card game. Albert Almora's pinch single was his first career postseason hit and RBI. He had been 0-for-14.

• Daily Herald columnist Barry Rozner contributed to this report.