Addison Russell Drives In Four Runs As Cubs Down Nationals, 9-8, Advance To NLCS

Players of the Day for Thursday, October 12, 2017

National League

Taking a big step in defending their 2016 World Series championship, the Chicago Cubs survived game five with a 9-8 victory over the Washington Nationals.

Russell: 2-for-4, 4 RBI

Cubs' shortstop Addison Russell drove in four runs on a pair of doubles to lead Chicago to the three-games-to-two series win.

Down 4-1 in the third inning, Russell grounded out with the bases loaded against Bats' starter, Gio Gonzalez. The Cubs added another run on a wild pitch, cutting Washington's lead to 4-3.

In the fifth, with Max Scherzer on the mound for the Nationals, Russell stroked the first of his two doubles, driving in Contrerras and Ben Zobrist, putting the Cubs up 5-4. Two batters later, Russell scored on a passed ball, adding to Chicago's lead. By the time the inning was over, the Cubs had plated four runs for a 7-4 advantage.

Russell doubled again in the sixth, driving home Zobrist with the eighth run.

After the Nationals scored a pair in the bottom of the sixth, the Cubs added a run in the seventh for a 9-6 score.

Washington did not go easily, putting up single runs in the bottoms of the seventh and eighth innings, but Wade Davis, who ended a threat in the seventh by striking out Rayan Zimmerman, completed a seven-out save by cutting down the side in order in the ninth, getting Jayson Werth and Bryce Harper on swinging strikes to end the game.

Los Angeles will be the host to open the championship series, with the Cubs meeting the Dodgers in game one, Saturday, at 8:08 pm ET.

American League

There were no AL games on Thursday.

The ALCS begins Friday in Houston with the Astros hosting the Yankees at 8:08 pm ET.