WASHINGTON (AP) — Ian Happ homered and drove in four runs on three hits, Pete Crow-Armstrong added his team-leading 16th home run and Chicago Cubs beat the Washington Nationals 7-1 on Thursday night to earn their seventh consecutive series victory.
Colin Rea (4-2) allowed five hits over 5 1/3 scoreless innings after opener Drew Pomeranz completed a clean first as the Cubs won the rubber game and their 16th of their last 21 games overall.
Washington’s Jake Irvin (5-2) allowed three runs over five innings, including Crow-Armstrong’s two-run shot in the first and Happ’s run-scoring double — good for his 500th career RBI — in the second.
Luis García Jr. singled in the Nats’ run in the ninth.
Happ connected for his two-run, 405-foot drive off the facade of the third deck in right field against Jackson Rutledge in the sixth. In the ninth, he followed Reese McGuire’s run-scoring infield single with his own RBI single to center off Eduardo Salazar.
Caleb Thielbar entered for Rea with two aboard and a 5-0 lead in the seventh. García fouled out, then after Robert Hassell III’s single loaded the bases. Thielbar froze CJ Abrams with a 2-2 curveball over the zone to escape the jam.
Including Rea, the Cubs bullpen allowed no earned runs in 12 1/3 innings in the series. Chicago’s bullpen ERA is 0.74 over its last 19 games.
Nationals: Continue their homestand against Texas, opening the series against former teammate Patrick Corbin (3-4). The left-hander spent the previous six seasons with Washington and was its last remaining player from the 2019 World Series-winning team. Righty Michael Soroka (2-3) goes for the Nats.