TRYING TO KEEP SUNNY DISPOSITION
Road-weary Cubs held in check by Nats’ ace before dropping twinbill
WASHINGTON — As far as the Cubs are concerned, Max Scherzer can have the Cy Young Award again. Not like they’ve done much to stop him anyway.
Just let them play baseball when it’s not raining, they say.
As for the driver’s seat in National League Central race, neither rain nor sleet nor gloom of Max has kept them from their appointed rounds so far.
Not even 6½ hours of rain delays and two games of nonstop adversity could dampen the Cubs’ view of the final three weeks of their usual September route toward October.
After more than four hours of rain delays and an eventual postponement Friday, the Cubs sat for two more hours before opening a doubleheader Saturday, then took a Game 1 beating from Hurricane Scherzer in a 10-3 loss.
Then after taking a lead in Game 2 behind Victor Caratini’s grand slam and Cole Hamels’ pitching into the sixth inning, the Nationals stormed back in the seventh behind a Bryce Harper homer off Justin Wilson to win 6-5 and sweep the twinbill.
It left the road-weary Cubs with one game left in this four-game series — the six-plus hours of weather delays over two days coming near the end of the toughest stretch of the season for the Cubs.
“The guys have been great. I don’t want us to go there,” manager Joe Maddon said. “I don’t want us to take that trip and start thinking of it in a negative manner.”
Talk about a sunny disposition. Nineteen days into a stretch of 23 consecutive days of games in six cities, the Cubs now face a forecast of more adverse weather in Washington on Sunday, with a three-game lead in the division (after the opener) — and three games against second-place Milwaukee starting Monday.
But with 20 games left in the season, the Cubs cling to the league’s top record and seem to feel at home in the comfort of a fourth consecutive September ride toward October.
After beating Braves ace Mike Foltynewicz and the Phillies’ Cy Young contender, Aaron Nola, already during this trip, a loss to Scherzer on Saturday did little to dampen their pennant-chase vibe.
“From my experience, confidence is always a key for winning ballclubs,” center fielder Albert Almora Jr. said. “And that’s something we have. And if we mess up, no matter what, everybody’s there to pick you up and get the next guy going. That’s all you can really ask for.
“In this game, nobody’s going to be perfect. It’s how you bounce back from little things. We do a really good job of that.”
This despite another dominant effort from Scherzer (17-6), whose second complete game included 11 strikeouts and made him the first pitcher in the majors to reach 200 innings (202‰).
He gave up only one run through eight innings Saturday and leads the majors with 271 strikeouts.
In two starts against the Cubs, he has allowed three runs in 16 innings and struck out 22 with just one walk allowed.
Scherzer, who retired 15 consecutive batters at one point, has a 2.31 ERA — third in the league behind the Mets’ Jacob deGrom (1.68) and Nola (2.29) in what looks like a three-man race for the NL Cy Young Award.
The highlight for the Cubs in Game 1 was the first hit for journeyman speed specialist Terrance Gore in 15 career plate appearances. Gore, who has 23 career stolen bases, singled up the middle off Scherzer in the ninth and eventually scored the Cubs’ final run.
He came back in the nightcap as a pinchrunner in the seventh and stole second and third before Kris Bryant drove him in with a double.
The lowlight for the Cubs? Take your pick from Game 1: Jaime Garcia’s 23-pitch, three-run, one-out start in his Cubs debut, or Tyler Chatwood’s erratic two-inning relief appearance.
In his first appearance since a two-start minor-league rehab appearance for a mysterious hip injury, Chatwood hit the first batter he faced, sprinkled in a wild pitch and two walks, and allowed two runs — including one on Scherzer’s run-scoring single on a 3-2 pitch.
It was the first loss for the Cubs in 10 games against six of the top pitchers in the National League they have faced: Scherzer (twice), deGrom (twice), Nola (twice), Mike Foltynewicz (twice), Kyle Freeland and Clayton Kershaw.