Cubs 10, Nats 9
That was a killer. The Nats said all the right things after blowing an 8-0 lead to the Chicago Cubs on Thursday night. Jayson Werth said losing this way is no better or worse than dropping a low-scoring game you should have won. Livan Hernandez said just win Friday against Colorado and no one will remember this debacle. Check out our game story here with all the horrifying details.
The eight-run lead is the largest relinquished in a loss in Nats/Montreal Expos history. The previous franchise record for largest lead blown in a loss was seven runs on Aug. 28, 1998 at San Diego. The Expos led the Padres 8-1 and lost 12-8. And also Sept. 18, 1982 vs. these same Cubs when a 7-0 lead turned into a 10-7 loss. Washington better make sure those post-game words aren’t hollow on Friday night because losing streaks are born out of games like this one.
“That’s the thing I always talk about – that veteran leadership,” shortstop Ian Desmond said. “Take it with a grain of salt, come back [Friday]. It’s a new day.”
More bad news before the game when catcher Ivan Rodriguez injured his right oblique muscle taking swings during batting practice and had to be scratched from the lineup. The oblique was already tight beforehand and he was hurt trying to loosen the muscle in the cage. Think that injury is easy to get over? Davey Johnson said Pudge immediately stormed into the clubhouse and started knocking things over and ripping off his uniform. He wasn’t happy. And while the team said Rodriguez was available at least as a pinch hitter, he seemed to labor even putting on his dress shirt after the game.
“It happened during batting practice,” Rodriguez said. “What can you do? Those things happen just like that and it got me today.”
Rodriguez says he isn’t concerned yet about going on the 15-day disabled list. This isn’t an injury he’s experienced before and he pronounced himself day-to-day with a re-evaluation coming on [Friday]. Rodriguez iced the injury “five or six times” on Thursday evening and said he “took some pills to drink”
“We’ll look at him again [Friday],” Johnson said. “He obviously doesn’t want to be down, doesn’t want to go on the [disabled list].”
Other news and notes: The seven runs scored by the Nats in the third inning represent a club high for most runs scored in an inning this season. The last time they scored seven in an inning was May 31, 2010 vs. Houston.
Meanwhile, rehabbing starting pitcher Chien-Ming Wang tossed five scoreless innings for Double-A Harrisburg on Thursday. He gave up just two hits with two strikeouts and no walks. It was Wang’s third rehab start after two years spent recovering from shoulder surgery. The right-hander has allowed just two runs in 12 innings (1.50 ERA) in games at Harrisburg, low-A Hagerstown and high-A Potomac.
The last time Chicago erased an eight-run deficit en route to a win was May 30, 2008 vs. Colorado. Down 8-0 and 9-1, the Cubs won that game, 10-9. Fitting.
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