Desmond had three hits, scored three times and hit a tie-breaking homer in the fourth inning to lead the Nationals to a 7-3 win over the Chicago Cubs in the opener of a three-game series at Nationals Park.

The way the rest of the lineup compensated for the lack of two-thirds of the starting outfield made Desmond a little nostalgic.

“Last year, we were missing guys throughout the whole season, pretty much,” Desmond said to the Associated Press after the game, referring, of course, to Washington’s 98-win division title season in 2012. “We just found a way.”

On Friday, the way included Desmond’s contributions, along with RBI doubles by Danny Espinosa and Kurt Suzuki, complemented by nice pitching by both Ross Detwiler and Craig Stammen.

Ian Desmond finished a triple shy of the cycle against the Cubs on Friday night.(Image: Brad Mills, USA Today)

Suzuki was the first to start the party, crashing a two-run double off the fence in right-center in the second inning, turning an early 1-0 Cubs lead into a 2-1 Nationals advantage. Suzuki also made the highlight reel with his glove in the next half-inning. After back-to-back double by Jeff Samardzija and Starlin Castro knotted the game at 2-2, a single by Anthony Rizzo looked to give the Cubs the lead. But Roger Bernadina, in right field thanks to the aforementioned injuries, let loose a good throw home. Suzuki dove back to just nab the sliding Castro at the plate, denying Chicago the go-ahead run.

It stayed 2-2 until the fourth, when Desmond broke the tie with his fifth homer of the year, and one inning later it was Desmond again, this time with a double off Samardzija that scored Ryan Zimmerman for a 5-2 Nationals lead. When Danny Espinosa followed with a two-run double of his own, it appeared to be all Detwiler would need.

Plagued by a lack of run support, Detwiler came into the game with just one win to his name, but the Nationals outburst on Friday was more than enough to support the lefty, who somehow battled through surrendering six doubles in 6.2 innings while only giving up two runs. Craig Stammen came in to relieve Detwiler in the seventh and went the rest of the way, picking up some work for himself while simultaneously giving his bullpen mates a much appreciated night off.

Speaking of nights off, there were divergent diagnoses for the Nationals missing outfielders. Werth, who hasn’t played since May 2, appears headed for the disabled list to rest a slight strain in his hamstring. The Nationals are expected to call up outfielder Eury Perez from Syracuse to fill the roster spot, which shouldn’t be open for long, as Werth should be back as soon as he is eligible to come off.

Harper, meanwhile, had been playing the last couple of games with an ingrown toenail that eventually became infected and needed a procedure to rectify — if you’re interested, check Harper’s Twitter feed for a splendid color photo of the carnage. The 20-year-old should be back in the lineup on Saturday however, when the Nationals will send Stephen Strasburg (1-4, 3.45 ERA) to the hill in search of his first win since Opening Day. Opposing him will be Edwin Jackson (0-5, 6.39) for the Cubs, returning to Nats Park after spending 2012 with Washington.

Wow…simply, WOW.  After outscoring the Chicago Cubs 22-7 in the first three games of this series, the Nationals (85-52) piled on nine more as they easily completed the sweep of the struggling Cubbies this Thursday night.  Final score: 9-2, in a game that saw everything but the kitchen sink.  That includes multiple helpings of Bryce Harper base running magic, two more Nationals homeruns, and two BENCHES-CLEARING confrontations, which I will address later.

While the Nats’ offense will grab most of the credit tonight, Jordan Zimmermann (W, 10-8) was absolutely sensational.  Except for a first inning home run to Anthony Rizzo and a couple of triples that allowed Starlin Castro to score in the 2nd, J-Zimm would remain in a groove through seven strong, giving up only five hits, a walk, and the two runs while striking out nine in the process.  Coming into tonight, Zimmermann had lost three of his last four starts, but this outing definitely put him back on track as the postseason rapidly approaches.

Watching Jordan Zimmermann dazzle the hometown crowd was nice, but the real fun certainly occurred when the Nats came to the plate throughout the evening.  Bryce Harper would quickly make his start worthwhile, as he laced a triple in the left-center gap to open the bottom of the 1st.  Ryan Zimmerman would follow with a routine groundout to the second baseman that of course Harper was able to score on in a close play at the plate…1-1 through one.  The DC offense wouldn’t cease, as in the 2nd an Ian Desmond double and Danny Espinosa HBP would allow Kurt Suzuki to jack a 3-run homer and put the Nats up 4-2!  From there, this star-studded playoff team would not look back.  The Nats added three more runs in the 4th on a Harper RBI single and Zimmerman 2-RBI single to bring the score to a wide 7-2, and two more on an Adam LaRoche 2-run shot in the 7th to complete the scoring at 9-2.  This was LaRoche’s fourth straight game with a homer, and he now has six jacks and eleven RBIs in his last 21 at-bats.

Sep 6, 2012; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Nationals center fielder Bryce Harper (34) is held back by home plate umpire Jerry Lane and Chicago Cubs catcher Steve Clevenger (51) after an inside pitch during the sixth inning at Nationals Park. The Nationals defeated the Cubs 9-2. (Image Credit: Brad Mills-US PRESSWIRE)

Things would get very interesting in the bottom of the 5th.  Nats’ third base coach Bo Porter seemed to be verbally attacked by Cubs’ bench coach Jamie Quirk, who seemed baffled and appalled at the Nationals’ continued aggressive play even against a team like this lowly Chicago squad.  Porter clearly took offense to the unkind words coming from the Cubs dugout.  Next thing we viewers realize, both benches and bullpens take the field!  No shots were thrown at this time, mainly confusion.  To the crowd’s pleasure, Quirk was indeed ejected.  To make matters worse, Cubs reliever Lendy Castillo clearly attempted to hit Bryce Harper on the first pitch in the bottom of the 6th.  We could all see this coming, as Harper immediately took steps toward the mound and both benches and bullpens would clear once again!  This time, physical shoving would immediately ensue following a thrust by Cubs catcher Steve Clevenger on Michael Morse.  While Castillo was not tossed, Clevenger, Cubs pitcher Manny Corpas, and Nationals reliever Mike Gonzalez would all be ejected.

Champ of the Game: Lots to choose from this evening, but Suzuki gets the nod.  He went 3-5 with three hits, two runs, and three RBIs and sealed the Nats’ fate with his homer in the 2nd.

For the Cubs, Anthony Rizzo was the only one to really get things going.  He went 3-4 with his four-bagger in the 1st.

Chump of the Game: While he was indeed able to score, Jason Werth was the only non-pitching starter to fail to get a hit in this one.  It pains me to give this “award” because no National truly deserves it.

The immature Cubs’ bench coach Jamie Quirk…enough said.

Unsung Heroes: Tons of choices here, but I have to go with not only Zimmermann but also recent call-up Christian Garcia.  After tearing up the Triple-A season for Syracuse, Garcia successfully pitched the last one and a third innings of tonight’s contest giving up just one hit.

Next Game: Tomorrow, 7:05PM at Nationals Park.  The Marlins return to town as Miami’s Jacob Turner (1-3, 7.33ERA) takes on the one and only Stephen Strasburg (15-6, 2.94ERA).

Ross Detwiler pitched seven shutout innings and Adam LaRoche homered to lead the Nationals to a 2-1 win over the Chicago Cubs at Nationals Park, clinching a winning season for Washington for the first time since the franchise moved from Montréal after the 2004 campaign.

The Nationals retained their 6 1/2 game lead over the Atlanta Braves atop the NL East and moved a full game ahead of the Cincinnati Reds in the race for the league’s best record. And while the way the team has played this season has made the accomplishment of securing a winning record a mere formality, having it set in stone now is cause for cheer even as the team’s fans look forward.

It has been a while since long-time fans of either the franchise or the city’s baseball teams could get excited about a winning season. It is the first for the club since the 2003 season, the penultimate season in Montréal, when Frank Robinson’s Expos won 83 games behind Vladimir Guerrero and Livan Hernandez despite being shuffled off to Puerto Rico for a handful of home games. And Washington fans have waited even longer — the last team in the nation’s capital to finish above .500 was the Ted Williams-led 1969 club, which won 86 games while featuring players like Frank Howard and Dick Bosman.

Ross Detwiler threw seven shutout innings as the Nats dumped the Cubs 2-1 on Monday. (Image:

The formula for success in this clincher was much the same as many of the Nationals successes in 2012 — strong starting pitching. On this Labor Day, it was Detwiler (9-6) who hardly labored at all. Continuing a streak of string starts at home, the lefty allowed only one Chicago baserunner to get to third, allowing just four hits and three walks while striking out three in his seven shutout innings.

Detwiler’s only real sweat-inducing inning may have been the fifth, which began with a leadoff walk to Dave Sappelt. Jeff Samardzija then bunted Sappelt over to second with one out and the rookie took third on a fly ball to left by Joe Mather. But Detwiler got Darwin Barney to fly out to right to end the threat.

Washington was not faring much better against Samardzija (8-13), who came one out shy of throwing a complete game against the Nationals at Wrigley Field during the first series of the season. LaRoche continued where he left off during that series however, leading off the second inning. The first baseman blasted a home run into the third deck down the line in right field, his third homer of the year against the Cubs, to give Washington a 1-0 lead that had to last until the eighth.

The insurance run — one that turned out to be very necessary — came after Samardzija departed. Bryce Harper greeted rookie lefty Jeff Beliveau with a sharp single that got through a diving Barney into right. Ryan Zimmerman followed with a double down the third-base line that got all the way into the corner, allowing Harper to motor home and double Washington’s lead.

The Cubs did rally late however. Anthony Rizzo welcomed Tyler Clippard to the game with a single to right and after a pair of flyouts, took second on defensive indifference. That proved to be large when Welington Castillo dropped a single into center to score Rizzo and bring the go-ahead run to the plate. Clippard then threw a pickoff away, allowing pinch-runner Tony Campana to go to second, before striking out Josh Vitters to close the game and earn his 30th save of the season.

It wasn’t all fun and games for the Nationals though. Left-fielder Michael Morse left the game in the fourth inning with a sore right thumb, a recurrence of a problem that has been nagging him for a while.

Champ of the Game: Ross Detwiler. Once again relying heavily on his two brands of fastball, Detwiler was sterling. The Nationals playoff rotation does not lose a thing with Detwiler slotting into Stephen Strasburg‘s spot. For the Cubs, Samardzija deserved better, but didn’t have a lineup behind him that could do anything with the bats against Detwiler. The former Notre Dame wide receiver fanned eight Nats over his seven innings.

Chump of the Game: Not many candidates. You want to bang Chad Tracy for not getting a pinch-hit? For Chicago, Beliveau was brought in to retire Harper and didn’t, setting the stage for the Nationals to tack on the run that proved to be the winner.

Next Game: The Nats and Cubs will play the second of four Tuesday night at Nationals Park at 7:05 ET. Lefty Chris Rusin (0-1. 1.80 ERA) will make his second big league start against Washington’s Edwin Jackson (8-9, 3.53).