Jameson Taillon scattered two hits across six scoreless innings as the host Chicago Cubs topped the Washington Nationals 3-1 on Friday afternoon.
Taillon (11-8) walked two and struck out four while throwing 50 of his 80 pitches for strikes. He retired the final 10 batters he faced after hitting Andres Chaparro with a pitch to load the bases with two outs in the third.
Dansby Swanson clubbed a solo shot to center in the bottom of the first for Chicago (79-75), which has taken the first two games of a four-game series.
Washington’s sputtering offense failed to come through for starter Trevor Williams (5-1), who held the Cubs to one run and three hits in five innings. Williams didn’t issue a walk and fanned seven.
Nate Pearson took over for Taillon to begin the seventh, and the Nationals (68-86) quickly put themselves in position to break through against the right-hander.
Keibert Ruiz singled to open the frame before Drew Millas bunted to the third base side for a one-out base hit. After Darren Baker grounded into a forceout, Pearson walked CJ Abrams to load the bases.
That forced Chicago manager Craig Counsell to summon Tyson Miller from the bullpen, and the move paid off, with Miller getting Dylan Crews to ground out to end the frame.
Pinch hitter Mike Tauchman made the missed opportunity sting even more when he grounded a two-run single into right in the home half of the inning, putting the Cubs up 3-0.
James Wood answered by opening the eighth with a homer that pulled Washington within 3-1.
Wood, who hit out of the three-hole, provided the only hit among the top five batters of the Nationals’ lineup. That section of the order went just 1-for-16 (.063).
Porter Hodge struck out two during a 1-2-3 ninth to notch his seventh save of the season for Chicago.
Cubs catcher Christian Bethancourt finished with a game-high two hits.
