Rookie Daylen Lile homered to lead off the fourth and Brad Lord tossed 5 2/3 strong innings, lifting the visiting Washington Nationals to a 2-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Saturday.
Lile collected two hits to improve to 9-for-19 with five extra-base hits, six RBIs and six runs in five games this month.
Jorge Alfaro had an RBI single in the first inning to highlight his two-hit performance for the Nationals (57-84), who have won four of their last five games.
Chicago’s Pete Crow-Armstrong had a double and scored on a groundout in the second inning before exiting in the sixth after fouling a ball off his right knee.
Seiya Suzuki had a single in the sixth inning and Nico Hoerner added one in the ninth for the Cubs (81-61), who were limited to just three hits and went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.
The Cubs will vie for their third straight series win in the rubber match of the three-game set on Sunday.
Lord (5-8) allowed one run on two hits and struck out a career-high seven batters — including six in a row at one point. He also issued a career-high four walks to drive up his pitch count.
Three relievers bridged the gap to Cole Henry, who retired the side in the ninth inning to secure his second save of the season.
Chicago’s Matthew Boyd (12-8) settled for the hard-luck loss despite permitting two runs on seven hits in seven innings.
Lile deposited a 0-1 slider from Boyd over the wall in right field to give Washington a 2-1 lead. Lile’s homer was his fourth of the season.
CJ Abrams doubled to lead off the game, moved to third base on James Wood’s single and scored on Alfaro’s base hit to right field.
Chicago answered in the third inning after Crow-Armstrong doubled and scored following a pair of groundouts.
