Kris Bryant belts 3 home runs to lead Cubs to a 146 win over Nationals

WASHINGTON — Kris Bryant stole the attention from the return of Anthony Rizzo by hitting three home runs in his final three at-bats Friday night, and the Cubs pulled away to a 14-6 victory over the Nationals and three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer at Nationals Park.

Bryant’s three homers paced a season-high six-homer attack. This marked the second time Bryant hit three home runs in a game, with the first time occurring June 27, 2016, against the Reds in Cincinnati.

All three of Bryant’s homers occurred after Scherzer was lifted for a pinch hitter after allowing three runs in six innings and departing with a 3-2 deficit.

Bryant hit a two-run home run in the seventh off Justin Miller to give the Cubs a 5-2 lead. When the Nationals countered with two runs off Brandon Kintzler in the bottom of the inning, the Cubs responded with five runs in the eighth.

Kyle Schwarber, batting leadoff for the second consecutive game, hit a two-run, opposite field home run on a 13-pitch at-bat against Kyle Barraclough.

Bryant followed with a solo homer off Barraclough as the Cubs sent 10 batters to the plate.

In the ninth, Bryant hit a two-run, line-drive homer off Matt Grace that landed in the Cubs bullpen. Bryant increased his season total to 11, and he has hit eight home runs in his last 12 games.

Albert Almora Jr. hit a two-run homer in the second off Scherzer that gave the Cubs a 3-0 lead. In the first, Javier Baez hit a double to score Kyle Schwarber with two outs and extend his hitting streak to 15 games.