Home runs get Nats back in the series
Harper connects, then Zimmerman, in 8th-inning rally.
Thingswere WASHINGTON— looking bleak for theWashington Nationals and their dormant offense until Bryce Harper and Ryan Zimmerman took over.
Harper hit a tying two-run homer in the eighth inning and Zimmerman tacked on a three-run homer moments later to lift the Nationals to a 6-3 victory over the defendingWorld Series champion Chicago Cubs on Saturday, evening their NL Division Series at a game apiece.
TheNationalswere in serious danger of falling behind 2-0inthe series, entering the eighth trailing 3-1 after dropping Game 1 by a 3-0 score.
But afteraccumulating just four hits through the first 16 innings of the postseason, NL East championWashington broke out with five runs and four hits, led by Harper, the 2015 NL MVP, and Zimmerman, the longtime face of the franchise.
The NLDS moves toWrigley Field for Game 3 today. TheCubs will have Jose Quintana on themound and the Nationals counter with twotime Cy Young Award winnerMax Scherzer, whowas pushed back in the rotation because of an injured right hamstring.
Jon Lester heldWashington to just one run and two hits through six innings Saturday, butCubs manager Joe Maddon turned to his bullpenandeverything changed.
After pinch hitter Adam Lind led off the eighth with a single, Harper connected off a hanging curveball from Carl Edwards Jr., taking a momentto admire hishome run before flinging his bat to the ground as the ball reached the second deck in right field.
After the next two men reached, Zimmerman stepped in to face Mike Montgomery. This hasbeena renaissance year for the first baseman, who had only 15 homeruns and 46 RBIs in an injury-plagued 2016 season, but led theNationals in 2017 with 36 home runs and 108 RBIs. His drive off a 93 mph fastballwasn’t the sure thing Harper’s drive was, but on an evening when balls carried in 12 mph wind — every run scored on ahomer— this one did, too, barely clearing the green wall in left field.
As he began running the bases, Zimmerman jutted his right fist out, then spread botharmswide, thewayakid pretends to be an airplane.
It made a winner of Oliver Perez, who pitched to one batter in the eighth — AnthonyRizzo— andinduced an inning-ending double play. Thelast ofWashington’s six pitchers, Sean Doolittle, came on for the ninth and earned a save.