Scherzer shines, but Cubs take series lead

CHICAGO— Moments after his goahead hit, Anthony Rizzo walked across the infield at frenzied Wrigley Field and shouted “Respect me! Respect me!”

A year after their historic championship, Rizzo and the Chicago Cubs are fighting for another memorable October.

Rizzo blooped a tiebreaking single into left field with two outs in the eighth and the Cubs overcame Max Scherzer’s brilliant performance to beat the Washington Nationals 2-1 on Monday for a 2-1 lead in their NL Division Series.

The Nationals had a base open with Rizzo coming to the plate and pinch runner Leonys Martin on second, but manager Dusty Baker elected to pitch to the slugger with Willson Conteras on-deck. Oliver Perez came in and Rizzo looped his first pitch into shallow left-centre, finding a patch of grass between three Washington fielders.

“I want to make guys pay,” Rizzo said. “I hit where I hit in the order. I drive in runs, and that’s just the mentality that I always take in. Usually I keep that stuff behind the scenes and say that stuff, but just my emotions got me there.”

Baker had a different viewpoint. Asked if Rizzo, who drove in two runs in each of the first two games of the series, seems like a player who gets hits at key moments in the playoffs, Baker responded: “Well, yeah, I guess. I mean, it’s not really turning it on when you bloop one in there, you know what I mean?”

Scherzer was dominant in his return from a right hamstring injury, carrying a no-hitter into the seventh. But the Cubs showed off their resilience on the way to a stirring victory.

Game 4 of the best-of-five series is Tuesday. Jake Arrieta returns from his own hamstring injury for the Cubs, while Tanner Roark gets the ball for the Nationals.

The Cubs got a huge pinch-hit RBI single from Albert Almora Jr. and a solid pitching performance from Jose Quintana.

After Rizzo’s big hit, Wade Davis retired three in a row for his second save of the series. Jayson Werth popped out to Rizzo to end the game.