Cubs 3, Nats 2 (5/26/15)

In Commentary And Analysis by berselius

OSS: Kris Bryant hit a homer that hasn’t landed yet, and Addison Russell completed the comeback.

Three up

1. Kyle Hendricks had another great outing, going seven innings and keeping the Nats hitters off balance all game. It felt like the Cubs turned ten double plays behind him, his sinker was working so well on a day when the wind was howling out. The only run he gave up was a solo HR to Bryce Harper that looked like a popup to shallow LF, but was grabbed by the wind.

2. As mentioned above, Kris Bryant hit a moonshot to tie the game in the eighth inning. As the CSN crew could best figure, it probably hit off the top of the scoreboard. The distance was estimated at 463 feet.

3. Even aside from the walkoff hit, Addison Russell had a nice day at the plate going 3-4. He also was a black hole from which no balls escaped at second base, making several fantastic plays behind Kyle Hendricks.

Three Down

1. Pedro Strop gave up a go-ahead HR to the suddenly much more slugg-y Denard Span in the eighth. Normally I’d qualify this with the day’s weather conditions, but that HR was a laser beam that got to the bleachers so quickly that the wind never even had time to help it.

2. Hector Rondon pitched a mostly clean ninth, allowing a hit, but was all over the place with his location. He got the third out of the inning on a hilariously bad TOOTBLAN by Yunel Escobar (his second of the day!).

3. Jorge Soler was the Cubs leader in negative WPA on the day with -.110, but he did have several hard-hit balls and didn’t strike out. He also made a fantastic catch late in the game to rob Ian Desmond (I think) of a base hit.

Next game: Scherzer vs Lester, 7:05 PM CT. Should be a fun one.

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