CHICAGO — Nico Hoerner capped Chicago’s five-run eighth inning with his first career grand slam, helping the Cubs beat the lowly Washington Nationals 8-3 on Wednesday night.
Mike Tauchman also homered and drove in three runs as Chicago earned its second straight win after dropping the opener of the three-game series on Monday night. Kyle Hendricks pitched six innings of one-run ball.
Washington tied it at 3 with two runs in the top of the eighth against Julian Merryweather (3-0).
Jeimer Candelario, who could be on the move ahead of the Aug. 1 trade deadline, led off with his 15th homer. Three straight two-out singles by Dominic Smith, Corey Dickerson and Luis Garcia produced another run.
Chicago bounced back in the bottom half. Yan Gomes made it 4-3 when he hit a bases-loaded sacrifice fly against Mason Thompson (3-3).
After Tucker Barnhart struck out and Tauchman walked, Hoerner greeted Cory Abbott with a drive to left-center for his sixth homer of the season.
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