Major League Baseball
Washington 5, Chi. Cubs 1
When: 2:20 PM ET, Saturday, September 21, 2024
Where: Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois
Temperature: 84°
Umpires: Home - David Arrieta, 1B - Ramon De Jesus, 2B - Tripp Gibson III, 3B - Adrian Johnson
Attendance: 38819

MacKenzie Gore came within eight outs of the eighth no-hitter in Nationals franchise history, lifting visiting Washington to a 5-1 win over the Chicago Cubs on Saturday afternoon.

Chicago didn't get to Gore (10-12) until Patrick Wisdom clubbed a solo shot with one out in the bottom of the seventh. That was the only hit and run the left-hander allowed in his seven innings. He walked three and struck out nine.

Joey Gallo broke the game open with a three-run homer in the sixth for Washington (69-86), which had dropped five straight. Jose Tena went 3-for-4 with a run, and Luis Garcia Jr., Juan Yepez, Ildemaro Vargas and Gallo each added two hits.

The Cubs (79-76) are on the verge of being officially eliminated from postseason contention. Chicago trails the Mets by 6 1/2 games for the final National League wild-card spot with seven games left to play. New York was set to face the Philadelphia Phillies later Saturday.

Kyle Hendricks (4-12) got the start for the Cubs and yielded four runs on nine hits in 5 1/3 innings. He walked one and fanned two.

Garcia, Yepez and Tena opened the sixth with singles before Keibert Ruiz lifted a sacrifice fly to center. Gallo then drilled his ninth home run of the season for a 5-0 lead.

Vargas opened the scoring in the second with a sacrifice fly of his own.

Nico Hoerner killed a pair of potential rallies for Chicago. He grounded into two double plays, with one ending the second and the other spoiling a two-on, no-out situation in the fifth.

The Nationals loaded the bases with one out in the ninth but failed to push across an insurance run.

Washington was playing without All-Star shortstop CJ Abrams, who was sent to Triple-A Rochester prior to the game. Multiple media outlets reported that Abrams spent all night at a Chicago-area casino ahead of Friday's contest, another afternoon affair with the Cubs.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Washington   Chi. Cubs
MacKenzie Gore Player Kyle Hendricks
Win W/L Loss
7.0 IP 5.1
9 Strikeouts 2
1 Hits 9
1.29 ERA 6.75
Hitting
Washington   Chi. Cubs
Jose Tena Player Patrick Wisdom
3 Hits 1
0 RBI 1
0 HR 1
3 TB 4
.750 Avg .333
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Washington 12 1 15 .353 15 8 5 2 0 0
Chi. Cubs 2 1 5 .074 7 9 1 3 0 0