WASHINGTON — Patrick Wisdom drove in the go-ahead run in the 11th inning, and the Chicago Cubs beat the Washington Nationals 7-5 on Tuesday night.
Wisdom led off the inning with a double down the left-field line against Victor Arano (1-1), scoring automatic runner Willson Contreras. Wisdom then went to third on a wild pitch and scored on Seiya Suzuki’s single.
Brandon Hughes (2-1) pitched the 10th for Chicago and Mark Leiter Jr. worked the 11th for his first save.
Contreras gave the Cubs a 5-4 lead with a sacrifice fly in the 10th, but Nationals prospect C.J. Abrams, called up Monday from Triple-A Rochester, singled home Alex Call in the bottom half for his first hit with Washington. Abrams was acquired in the trade that sent Juan Soto and Josh Bell to San Diego.
Luke Voit and Lane Thomas clubbed solo homers off Chicago’s Rowan Wick in the eighth inning to tie it at 4.
Franmil Reyes homered and singled for the Cubs.
Cubs starter Justin Steele allowed one unearned run on five hits in six innings. He walked two and struck out five.
Patrick Corbin allowed four runs on six hits over six innings for Washington. He had been skipped the last time through the rotation after pitching to a 25.41 ERA over three starts, two of which saw him chased in the first inning.
César Hernández had two doubles and a single, and rookie outfielder Joey Meneses extended his hitting streak to 10 games for the Nationals.
Ildemaro Vargas’s RBI single in the seventh pulled Washington within 4-2.
The Cubs got two in the fourth on RBI hits by Nico Hoerner and P.J. Higgins to make it 3-0. Reyes’ homer made it 4-0 in the sixth.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Cubs: OF Ian Happ was given a scheduled night off.
Nationals: C Keibert Ruiz, who was struck on the mask by two foul tips and later fouled a pitch off his right knee during Monday’s game, was not in the starting lineup, but entered as a pinch-hitter in the seventh.
UP NEXT
Cubs: LHP Drew Smyly (5-6, 3.63 ERA) is 1-0 with a 2.63 ERA in five career appearances (four starts) at Nationals Park.
Nationals: RHP Corey Abbott (0-2, 5.94) makes his first start against his former team on Wednesday. He pitched seven games for the Cubs in 2021, including one start.
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