WASHINGTON -- After waiting nearly 24 hours to play the second of four games at Nationals Park, the Cubs committed three errors -- including two in the Nats' five-run sixth -- while succumbing to Max Scherzer's 10th career complete game in a 10-3 loss to open Saturday's doubleheader.
Scherzer (17-6) struck out 11, walked none and allowed nine hits as Washington evened the series at one game apiece. He carried a shutout through six innings before allowing a run in the seventh and two in the ninth.
After Friday night's washout, another rain delay of 2 hours, 10 minutes preceded this one. When play finally started, it was the Cubs who looked off the pace as their lead in the National League Central shrank to 3 1/2 games over the Brewers, who were playing the Giants on Saturday night.
Jaime Garcia began what was a bullpen game for the Cubs, allowing three runs while retiring only one batter in his Cubs debut.
After Thomas La Stella's double in the Cubs' half of the first, Scherzer retired 15 consecutive batters before plunking Ian Happ and allowing a single to former Nats teammate Daniel Murphy in the sixth. La Stella grounded into a double play to end that threat.
Willson Contreras eventually singled in a run off Scherzer in the seventh, but only after Chicago's defense and pitching capitulated in the bottom of the sixth.

Randy Rosario walked Matt Wieters, allowed a single to Adrian Sanchez and saw the bases loaded when catcher Contreras made a wild throw to third on Scherzer's sacrifice attempt. Rosario then walked Trea Turner with his final pitch to force across a run.
Anthony Rendon drove in another run on a bloop single off James Norwood that spilled off Anthony Rizzo's glove on an attempted over-the-shoulder catch. Scherzer sprinted in on Norwood's wild pitch, Turner scored on Murphy's errant throw home from second, and Mark Reynolds' grounder plated Rendon to make it 8-0.
The Nats added two more in the seventh off Tyler Chatwood in a game in which all six Cubs pitchers gave up one hit.
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Rizzo came close to making a play on Juan Soto's bases-loaded single in the first, but he couldn't get his glove on it. Had he corralled it, there may have been time for an inning-ending double play to get Garcia out of the first unscathed. Instead, two runs scored.

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La Stella actually dipped to 4-for-10 in his career against Scherzer despite his first-inning double, with all four of those hits going for extra bases. That's more than any other Cubs player has against the three-time Cy Young Award winner. Benjamin Zobrist has three extra-base hits -- all homers.

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La Stella got into the act on defense, too, when Victor Robles led off the sixth inning with a well-placed bunt down the first-base line. On a slick surface, La Stella charged, barehanded the ball and fired on the run to nab Robles by fractions of a step.