Nationals 7, Cubs 0: Cavalli Flirts With History, Spoils the Sweep
Cade Cavalli carried a no-hitter into the seventh and struck out a career-high 10 as Washington denied Chicago a three-game sweep.
For six and two-thirds innings, Nationals Park was watching for history. Cade Cavalli took a no-hitter into the seventh before Michael Busch's two-out, opposite-field bloop single landed in shallow left, and settled instead for the best start of his career: eight shutout innings, one hit, 10 strikeouts on a career-high 103 pitches, as the Washington Nationals routed the Chicago Cubs 7-0 on Thursday, per CBS Chicago.
How close it was
Through eight innings the Cubs mustered one hit — Busch's bloop — and a walk to Dansby Swanson, Cubs Insider notes. The crowd stood to applaud when the bid died; Washington hasn't thrown a no-hitter since Max Scherzer's two in 2015, and for most of the night the 27-year-old looked ready to end that drought.
The other side of the ball
Kevin Gausman, making his second start since arriving at the trade deadline, hit a wall in a five-run fifth: 4⅔ innings, six runs. Abimelec Ortiz did the heaviest damage with a three-run homer in that fifth, capping a monster homestand at the plate, while Dylan Crews' RBI double, Daylen Lile's run-scoring single and Andrew Pinckney's sacrifice fly filled in the rest of the big innings.
What it means
Chicago had won the first two games of the series and arrived Thursday chasing a sweep that would have padded its hold on the NL's top wild-card position. Instead the Cubs fly home having been one-hit for eight innings, with Pete Crow-Armstrong striking out three times in a lineup-wide blank. For last-place Washington, the result is mostly about one arm: on a rebuilding club, Cavalli just delivered the kind of start rebuilds are supposed to produce.