Pete Crow-Armstrong hits 27th homer and Cubs beat Nationals 8-6 to move 20 games over .500

WASHINGTON (AP) — Pete Crow-Armstrong, Alex Bregman and Seiya Suzuki homered, and the Chicago Cubs rallied from an early deficit to beat the Washington Nationals 8-6 on Tuesday night.

Crow-Armstrong’s third-inning shot, his 27th, hit the facade of the third deck in right field, traveling an estimated 437 feet.

Bregman hit his 13th homer and finished 2 for 4 with three runs scored. Suzuki hit his 20th in the eighth inning to make it 8-4.

The Cubs (70-50) improved to a season-best 20 games over .500. They were 34-34 on June 10 but have gone 36-16 since, and they have a commanding lead in the NL wild-card race.

All-Star CJ Abrams hit a two-run homer in the first inning for Washington, his 29th, and Jacob Young went deep in the second, his 10th, to give the Nationals a 3-1 lead. Dylan Crews also hit his 10th homer for Washington.

The Cubs scored in five consecutive innings, highlighted by a three-run fourth. Carson Kelly’s RBI grounder off Jake Irvin (2-6) put Chicago ahead 4-3.

Shota Imanaga allowed three homers for the fourth time this season and could not get out of the fifth, departing with two outs and a 6-4 lead. Ryan Rolison (7-1) recorded the next four outs.

After the Nationals got within 8-6 in the eighth with two runs against Ryan Zeferjahn, Jacob Webb got the last four outs for his eighth save.

Abrams increased his major league-leading RBI total to 91, matching Ian Desmond in 2014 for the most in a season by a Nationals shortstop. The NL Player of the Month for July, Abrams has 11 homers and 31 RBIs in his last 31 games.

Up next

LHP David Peterson (6-7, 5.35 ERA) starts Wednesday for the Cubs, while the Nationals are expected to promote top lefty prospect Jackson Kent from Triple-A.

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