Chicago Cubs Score and Recap (9/1/24): Cubs 14, Nats 1 – Another Sweep Concludes Outstanding Road Trip

The Cubs offense continued to put up huge numbers as the calendar turned to September, hitting double digits yet again in Washington. Sloppy Nationals defense opened the door early and Chicago kicked it down, eventually scoring 14 times to complete their second consecutive sweep and sixth win in a row.

Jordan Wicks returned from a long stay on the injured list to make his first start since June 14 and got into a bases-loaded, nobody-out jam in the 2nd inning. The lefty was able to get a double play and a fly out to limit the damage to only a single run.

The North Siders wasted no time answering back against Mitchell Parker in the 3rd, beginning with a single by Pete Crow-Armstrong, who then advanced to third on a botched pickoff throw. Ian Happ knocked him in with a hit and Isaac Paredes singled with the bags full later in the frame to put the road team up 3-1.

In the 4th, PCA bunted with Nico Hoerner on first and probably would have beaten out a good throw. But third baseman José Tena threw wildly past first base, allowing the runner to come all the way around to score. Three innings later, Cody Bellinger had a two-RBI hit through a drawn-in infield that second baseman Luis Garcia Jr. probably should have fielded. Paredes eventually singled him home and Chicago was ahead 7-1 in the 7th.

The Cubs put an exclamation point on the road trip with seven more runs in the top of the 9th inning. Hoerner plated two with a hit and Miguel Amaya doubled home a pair in the 14-1 victory. (Box score)

Key Moment

In the 2nd inning, Paredes made a diving stab on a Keibert Ruiz grounder with the bases loaded and fired from his knees to second base to begin a 5-4-3 double play. Even though a run scored, the Nationals rally was short-circuited and Chicago gave up nothing else the rest of the afternoon.

Why the Cubs Won

The offense just continues mashing and they took full advantage of the sloppy play by their opponents.

Stats That Matter

• Wicks got almost no whiffs but he was very efficient, especially in his final three innings: 5 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 0 K, and 0 BB.
• PCA is becoming a chaos monster on the bases and had three more hits Sunday.
• Hitting second seems to agree with Dansby Swanson, who had four base hits including a double.
• Fourteen of the Cubs’ 18 hits were singles.

Bottom Line

Chicago certainly did what they had to do on this nine-game road swing against bad teams, going 8-1. They are starting to at least make themselves noticeable in the playoff race even if the odds still aren’t great. It might get very interesting if they can keep this going, but the road will get a bit tougher after they play the Pirates at Wrigley with the Yankees and Dodgers looming. I really didn’t think they would ever get to five games over .500 either, so maybe they can keep surprising us.

On Deck

The aforementioned series against Pittsburgh begins Labor Day evening at 6:40pm CT. Jameson Taillon takes on Jared Jones in a contest broadcast on Marquee and 670 The Score.