(AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh). Chicago won 4-3, and Harper did very little to impact the outcome of the game.
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Following the Nationals 4-3 extra innings loss to the Chicago Cubs on Sunday, Harper boarded the team bus outside famous “Friendly Confines” of Wrigley Field. He never swung it. Six times, the Chicago Cubs walked him, tying a major league record. Washington lost its fourth straight.
“They had a plan”, Harper said.
By intentionally walking Harper twice to load the bases Sunday, the Cubs made abundantly clear they had no intention of pitching to the reigning NL MVP. In the one plate appearance where he didn’t walk, Harper was hit by a pitch. ESPN cameras caught the confrontation, which shows harper seemingly yell “hey, f*** you” towards Knight, who turned and walk away. “I know he’s not as hot as he can be coming into this series but you don’t want to get him hot”. “I’ve been part of that in the past”.
“His stuff was outstanding, it’s just the command of his stuff wasn’t very good today, and that’s what put us behind the 8-ball”, manager Joe Maddon said. “So good for our guys”. Harper was hit by a pitch the other time he came to the plate. But since walks and hit-by-pitches don’t count as official at-bats, he technically reached base seven times despite not receiving an at-bat.
Things nearly became almost comical when Harper strolled to the batter’s box.
On Monday, Harper went 0-for-2 with two walks, one of which was intentional.
“He works the strike zone”, Baker said. “Especially to play that long, have that many chances and you’re sitting on the edge of your seat – and had opportunities big time and to lose a game like that, it hurts, but we don’t have any choice really, you’ve got to lick your wounds and then limp back home and gain some strength when we get back home before we take back out on the road again”. Four starts ago, he did begin his no-hitter with a 1-2-3 inning against the Reds, but even he acknowledged he didn’t feel sharp in the early going. Chicago attempted to take hold of the lead in the 11th inning when Jason Heyward was sent home from first base on Bryant’s one out double, but he was tagged out just before touching home. Travis Wood (1-0) got the win, the Cubs; fifth pitcher in treh game. The Cubs walked harper 6 times.
PIRATES 10, CARDINALS 5 Gregory Polanco hit a three-run home run and John Jaso added a two-run drive.
Now, thankfully, the bullpen was able to keep the Nationals at bay after surrendering a handful of runs in their previous two games.
In addition, for a team that struggles to hit with runners in scoring position, Murphy is their best player in those situation.
And Baez’s no-doubt shot to left center field pushed Arrieta’s remarkable streak to 20.
Zimmerman entered Monday’s game against the Detroit Tigers hitting.
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The Cubs are once again featured on the regional cover of Sports Illustrated. Montero is eligible to come off the 15-day DL on Tuesday…. Roark is 3-2 with a 5.33 ERA and 19 strikeouts in his career against the Cubs. The win completed a four-game sweep for the Cubs.
