Seiya Suzuki hit a home run, and Cody Bellinger drove in three runs as the Chicago Cubs defeated the Washington Nationals 7-6 on Thursday night, avoiding elimination from the postseason.
Joey Gallo hit a three-run home run for Washington, which has now lost four games in a row.
The Cubs were behind 6-5 after Gallo’s homer in the sixth inning off reliever Drew Smyly, but they took the lead for good with two runs in the seventh.
Bellinger singled to bring in the tying run, and then Isaac Paredes followed with a groundout that scored a run off reliever Robert Garcia (3-6).
Dansby Swanson contributed with three hits and scored four times for Chicago, which remains seven games behind for the last NL wild card spot with nine games left to play after New York and Arizona won earlier on Thursday.
Bellinger mentioned that the Cubs aren’t anxious about their postseason chances ending this weekend. “You still want to get the job done and make plays for your pitcher,” he said.
Ethan Roberts (1-0), the third of five Cubs relievers, earned his first career win, and Porter Hodge finished the game with his sixth save.
“Top of the lineup did a heck of a job, for sure,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell stated after the first four hitters combined for 10 hits and five RBIs.
The teams exchanged runs in the first inning and then traded two-run innings in the third. In the Cubs’ third inning, Suzuki hit his 21st home run of the season, a two-run shot off starter Patrick Corbin.
“I’m seeing the ball well,” Suzuki said through a translator after extending his hitting streak to 10 games. “I feel like I can get a little more aggressive.”
Chicago added two more runs to make it 5-3 before Gallo hit his homer in the sixth, giving the Nationals a brief 6-5 lead.
