August 1, 2021 – Nats 6, Cubs 5

https://www.mlb.com/gameday/cubs-vs- nationals/2021/08/01/633044#game_state=final,lock_state=final,game_tab=wrap,game=633044

 

Weather: 76 degrees, cloudy.

Wind: 1 mph, out to CF.

Umpires: HP--Moore, 1B--Eddings, 2B--Knight, 3B--Morales.

Time: 3:20

Attendance - 25,520

 

Trois étoiles:

#3 – Center fielder Rafael Ortega (Cubs). Hate to recognize an opponent, but it’s difficult not to when he hit 3 homers and drove in all 5 Chicago runs.

#2 – Josh Bell. Drove in half of Washington’s runs with 3^rd and 4^th inning singles.

#1 – Yadiel Hernandez. Leadoff single in the 2^nd, RBI single in the 3^rd, solo homer in the 7^th to extend Washington’s lead to 5-3, and a leadoff dinger in the bottom of the 9^th for the walkoff win.

 

The Chicago offense was nothing if not efficient, as only 4 guys not named Rafael Ortega reached base all afternoon. Two of them got on while pinch-hitting for the Chicago pitcher, with both scoring on Ortega HRs. The Cubs left only one runner on base for the game. (The Nats stranded 10.)

 

The weather wasn’t great, but it could have been worse. The light rain as the game started soon got heavy enough to clear most of the fans (including us) from our seats, resulting in some extra grounds crew work on the infield but no actual interruption in play. Fortunately it lightened up relatively quickly, and the sun actually appeared late in the game.

 

Our early arrival once again resulted in free parking, and we took advantage of the extra time to wander down to TaKorean for lunch. (A couple sparrows who landed on our outdoors table looking for crumbs wound up disappointed, though.)