Gore outpitches Boyd as Nationals blank Cubs 2-0 to even series
WASHINGTON — MacKenzie Gore pitched seven innings of 3-hit ball and Amed Rosario homered to break a scoreless tie in the seventh as the Washington Nationals beat the Cubs 2-0 on Wednesday night.
Nasim Nuñez added an RBI double in the eighth to chase Cubs starter Matthew Boyd, who carried a perfect game into the sixth before walking Nuñez with one out and then giving up a two-out single to rookie Robert Hassell III.
Rosario's third homer — an opposite-field shot into the Washington bullpen in right — came on the first pitch thrown by Boyd (5-3) in the seventh.
Gore (3-5) has tossed 13 consecutive scoreless innings. He struck out seven, walked one and threw 94 pitches as the Nationals evened the three-game series.
The left-hander retired 21 of the final 23 batters he faced in a game that took only 2 hours, 11 minutes.
Brad Lord worked a clean eighth and Kyle Finnegan earned his 17th save after letting two runners on in the ninth.
Boyd permitted two runs over 7⅓ innings while striking out seven, walking one and yielding four hits on 95 pitches.