Washington Nationals: Several positives emerge from Cubs series

In a possible playoff preview, the Washington Nationals won a three-game series against the Chicago Cubs. Although it wasn’t always pretty, there are several positive takeaways.

The Washington Nationals entered their weekend series in Chicago as an underdog due to a plethora of injuries, but managed to win the series anyways.

The Nats began the series with a bang, scoring two runs in the first inning of the first game. Daniel Murphy was the MVP of game one, going 3-for-4 with two homers. Tanner Roark also continued his resurgence, allowing just two runs over 6.1 innings.

Winning the first game of the series was huge for the Nats, considering their probable starters for the second and third games were Edwin Jackson and Erick Fedde. The Nats were dealing with several injuries, so winning the first game appeared to be a reasonable goal.

The second game did not go quite as well. Jackson got off to a rough start, allowing four runs in the first inning. He managed to settle in after the rough first, but the damage was done. Although the Nats put up a fight and remained in the game, they were never able to take the regain lead and lost 7-4.

The rubber match on Sunday afternoon appeared to be a severe mismatch, with Erick Fedde being opposed by Jon Lester, but it turned out to be a good game. Fedde looked much better in his second career start, allowing four runs over 5.1 innings. Lester also pitched well, allowing three runs over 6.2 innings, but his bullpen let him down.

Mike Montgomery, Carl Edwards, and Koji Uehara combined to allow six runs over just 2.1 innings, which allowed the Nats to erase their early deficit and win the game 9-4. With this win, the Nats won the series, which is an immense positive in itself.

Upon further analysis of the series, there were many more positives. Without further ado, let’s take a look at a few of those positives.