A pair of Cy Young Award winners take the mound Tuesday, when the Washington Nationals host the Chicago Cubs for the second contest of their four-game series. Two-time Cy Young recipient Max Scherzer starts for the Nationals, hoping to outduel Jake Arrieta and even the set.
Arrieta looks to pick up where Cubs pitchers left off in Monday’s 5-4 victory, as Eddie Butler and seven relievers combined to quiet the top offensive team in the National League. The Nationals have totaled six runs in back-to-back losses since their 18-3 rout of Cincinnati on Saturday, and they were in danger of being shut out for the first time all season before breaking through for four runs in the ninth. Chicago manager Joe Maddon used yet another quirky lineup in the series opener, as catcher Willson Contreras led off the game with a home run, joining Ben Zobrist and Anthony Rizzo in having done so for the club this season. The Cubs were unable to end a dubious streak at the plate, however, as they have grounded into at least one double play in eight consecutive games.
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, MLB Network, ABC 7 (Chicago), MASN (Washington)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Cubs RH Jake Arrieta (7-5, 4.36 ERA) vs. Nationals RH Max Scherzer (8-5, 2.09)
Arrieta is coming off one of his best outings of the season Thursday at Miami, as he yielded just one run and six hits over seven innings. The 31-year-old has registered only seven quality starts in 15 outings this year, but three of them have come in his last five turns. Arrieta is 1-1 with a 4.93 ERA in eight career starts against the Nationals.
Scherzer suffered a brutal loss on Wednesday, when he carried a no-hitter for 7 1/3 innings but wound up on the wrong end of a 2-1 defeat at Miami. The 32-year-old struck out 11 – his sixth straight outing with a double-digit total – while allowing two unearned runs and two hits over eight frames. Scherzer is 2-1 with a 3.19 ERA in five career starts against the Cubs.
WALK-OFFS
1. Nationals 2B Daniel Murphy doubled in the ninth inning Monday to extend his hitting streak to 10 games - a stretch during which he has gone 14-for-40.
2. Cubs 3B Kris Bryant is 0-for-8 with six strikeouts against Scherzer.
3. Chicago INF Javier Baez is 13-for-31 during his career-high eight-game hitting streak while OF/2B Ian Happ is 12-for-28 during his career-best seven-game run.