Ben Zobrist leads Chicago Cubs to 5-2 win over the Washington Nationals

After sweeping three games from the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Chicago Cubs returned to Wrigley Field for a four-game set against Dusty Baker and the Washington Nationals. This weekend series put two of the best records of baseball in a must-see match-up for May.

Boy, what a first game that was. Both teams put two of their youngest stars on the mound and they went at it with everything they had and more until they were removed for the night. In this case, right-hander Kyle Hendricks got the best of Joe Ross.

Hendricks (2-2, 3.10 ERA) had by far one of his best outings of the season, holding this red-hot Nationals (19-9) lineup to only two hits while issuing two walks and recording four strikeouts. Not only was he dealing on the mound for the first-place Chicago Cubs but he reached base after getting hit by a pitch in the fifth inning.

Chicago (21-6) jumped all over Ross during the bottom of the fourth, loading the bases full of pinstripes. Third baseman Tommy La Stella, who doubled in the first, led off the home half of the inning with a single out to center field.

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Just an inning prior, center fielder Dexter Fowler was called out on strikes for the second time in as many at-bats, resulting in him being ejected from the game. Jason Heyward came off the bench and took over for Fowler in center.

Back to the fourth. Outfielder Kris Bryant kept things moving and nearly launched a two-run homer to straight-away center field but settled for a ground-rule double.

Michael Taylor backed up to the ivy and attempted to make a leaping grab only to have the ball bounce off the left side of his glove and land in the ivy itself. This kept both Bryant and La Stella on second and third with no outs in the frame.

Ross (3-1, 1.23 ERA) entered tonight with an earned run average over 1.00 but had it bumped up a few points thanks to this lineup. Chicago got to him for two earned runs when Ben Zobrist lined a two-run double out to right field, scoring La Stella and Bryant to give Hendricks a 2-0 lead.

Skipper Dusty Baker pulled him out of the game after 6 2/3 innings. The Cubs added a few more runs during the bottom of the eighth when Zobrist cranked his third home run of the season — a two-run homer that was sent out to left-center field.

Zobrist finished the game 2-for-4 with four RBI. Shortstop Addison Russell padded the lead with an RBI double of his own, his second of the year which scored Ryan Kalish from first.

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Veteran outfielder, Jayson Werth, launched a two-run homer off Travis Wood in the ninth, making it a three-run ballgame. Moments later, Hector Rondon was called upon by Joe Maddon to record the third and final out to claim game one. Pedro Strop found himself in a bit of trouble having hit Danny Espinosa and walking Clint Robinson in the eighth.

Strop would get Michael Taylor to strikeout swinging and had Anthony Rendon ground into a double-play that left the young right-hander fired up as he made his way to the dugout.