'It's been really fun': Cubs riding high with offensive surge

WASHINGTON -- Recently, when the Cubs have found themselves down, they make sure it’s not for long.

The two runs the Nationals scored in the bottom of the first inning ignited a fire that spread quickly throughout Chicago’s offense, and the response was immediate. In the top of the second inning, the Cubs scored seven runs en route to the 7-6 victory at Nationals Park on Friday night, the fourth straight win for the North Siders.

Chicago narrowly missed its season high of eight runs scored in an inning -- which it achieved on Aug. 26 in the sixth frame against the Pirates -- but it was the first time the club had scored at least seven runs in an inning twice within a week since 2018 (June 28 and July 1).

“We just strung together a bunch of hits, got a big home run from [Cody Bellinger],” said manager Craig Counsell. “So we just jumped on [Nationals starter Jake Irvin] when he kind of lost command a little bit, and gave us some balls to hit. It was a seven-run inning, it was a big inning.”

Once third baseman Isaac Paredes knocked a leadoff single in the second, the rest of the lineup followed suit. After second baseman Nico Hoerner followed up with another single, Dansby Swanson got the Cubs on the board with an RBI knock up the middle.

A batter later, Pete Crow-Armstrong swatted a two-run double into the right-center-field gap to give the Cubs a 3-2 lead. Crow-Armstrong then raced home to beat the throw on Ian Happ’s fielder’s choice, and Michael Busch kept the line moving with an RBI double of his own. The stage was set for Bellinger to create even more damage, emphatically capping the inning with a two-run homer.

“[Irvin] pitched well, and I think we just got him in one inning,” said Bellinger, who has hit safely in 15 of his last 20 games since Aug. 5. “I think Dansby got it going. Pete came up again with a huge, huge, huge hit. It came to me and I was just trying to keep it rolling.”

Friday night was yet another showing of the Cubs’ fiery offense. They added on to their already impressive streak in their past eight games since Aug. 22, scoring 80 runs, the most in the Majors during that stretch. Since Aug. 6, they have scored an average of 6.45 runs per game.

It turns out that Chicago needed every bit of the seven-run second inning, as the Nats stormed back in the bottom of the ninth with a three-run rally -- bringing Dylan Crews to the plate with the winning run on first.

Right-hander Keegan Thompson was called to the mound to face the Majors’ No. 2 prospect, who had already homered in the game. The reliever planned to be aggressive in the zone and force the issue before any more runs could be scored, regardless of who was at the plate.

“[I] didn't know I was going into the game until probably a couple of batters before, maybe the batter before,” Thompson said. “Got hot pretty quick, and then went in and tried to do my job.

“[Crews is] a good player. He’s hit a couple homers in the last few days, second or third pick last year. So, I mean, obviously he's good, but nothing really changes. You still got to go after him in the strike zone, be aggressive and try to make pitches.”

Thompson completed the task, shutting the door with a strikeout to deliver the save.

The win was a team effort all around from the offense and bullpen. Cubs starter Shota Imanaga also contributed a quality start to hold the Nationals to just three runs -- logging eight strikeouts while allowing just four hits -- to maintain the lead and provide much-needed length.

Chicago has won 10 of its last 13 games, sitting five games back from the final NL Wild Card spot. And with a red-hot offense, the energy from the streak can be felt on the field and in the clubhouse.

“It’s been really fun,” Bellinger said. “Collectively as a whole, it’s been loud and a lot of barrel -- I’m trying to be a part of that.”