Cubs 11, Nationals 1
Cubs 11, Nationals 1: Nate Schierholtz hit two home runs and drove in six runs, Donnie Murphy also went deep twice and Dioner Navarro added a three-run shot as host Chicago posted its most lopsided victory of the season.
The outburst came in support of Jeff Samardzija (7-11), who struck out five, allowed one run on six hits and did not issue a walk in his third career complete game. Wilson Ramos broke up the shutout with a solo homer to left in the seventh, the only extra-base hit for Washington.
Chicago had scored only 12 runs in its previous eight home games, a span that included five shutouts. The Cubs wasted no time jumping on Jordan Zimmermann (14-7) as Junior Lake led off the bottom of the first with a double and Navarro drew a one-out walk ahead of Schierholtz's three-run blast.
Schierholtz added an RBI double in the third and made it his fourth career two-homer game in the seventh when he ripped a 3-2 fastball from Fernando Abad just inside the right-field foul pole and onto Sheffield Ave. The blast was his 18th, tying Anthony Rizzo for the team lead.
Murphy led off the fourth and eighth with homers - giving him six in 13 games with the Cubs - and Navarro drove a three-run shot to right-center in the fifth. Three of the five homers came against Zimmermann, who was tagged for eight runs on seven hits over five innings.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The teams agreed to a trade Monday afternoon, with OF David DeJesus going to the Nationals for a player to be named later. DeJesus received a standing ovation when he was announced as a pinch hitter in the eighth. Washington released OF Roger Bernadina to clear a roster spot. … Rizzo was held out of the lineup because of illness, only the third game he has not started. … Nationals RF Jayson Werth went 0-for-4, ending his 10-game hitting streak and his string of reaching base in 25 straight starts.