Washington Nationals walk off on Chicago Cubs, 5-4, on RBI single by Jayson Werth in 12th

Chicago Cubs' right-hander Jason Hammel took the mound this afternoon in Nationals Park with a 6-0 record, a 3.02 ERA and a .222/.266/.367 line against in 47 ⅔ innings pitched in the nation's capital in his career.

Hammel, 33, was also 9-0 overall against Washington, with a 3.16 ERA and a .233/.274/.372 line against in 12 games and 79 IP against the Nationals, making him the only active pitcher in the majors with at least nine wins and no losses against a single opponent.

On the mound for the Nationals in the series finale, was Stephen Strasburg, who started the day 10-0 on the year after 13 starts in which Washington was 12-1.

Strasburg also had a 13-0 record in his last 17 starts going back to September of 2015, with the Nationals 16-1 in those outings.

Something had to give... right? Well it didn't actually. Neither starter figured in the decision since it was tied at 1-1 after seven when they both left the mound.

This one was decided in extras on another Werth walk-off...

Here's how it happened:

Ben Zobrist got things started with a solo home run to right on a 1-2 fastball in the first at bat of the game, sending his 9th home run of the season into the Nationals' bullpen for a 1-0 lead.

Ben Revere got things started for the Nationals, singling to left to lead off the bottom of the first, stealing second, taking third on a groundout and scoring on a wild pitch to tie things up at 1-1.

Hammel retired 12 straight Nationals batters after Wilson Ramos singled to start the second, giving up just the one run on three hits through five. Jayson Werth singled to break that streak up after 13 straight outs, but was thrown out trying to stretch the single into a double.

Strasburg retired 10 of 12 to get through six on 85 pitches with the score still tied at 1-1 and then came back out with a scoreless, 20-pitch seventh that left him at 105 pitches overall.

Stephen Strasburg's Line: 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 Ks, 1 HR, 105 P, 67 S, 2/4 GO/FO.

Jason Hammel's Line: 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 Ks, 84 P, 64 S, 9/3 GO/FO.

Felipe Rivero took over on the mound in the eighth, and worked around a leadoff single in a nine-pitch frame.

Pedro Strop retired the first batter he faced, but fell behind pinch hitter Stephen Drew 2-0 and grooved a fastball that the Nats' bench bat did. not. miss.

Solo HR. No. 6 for Drew, the Nats' 9th pinch hit home run on the year. 2-1 Nationals.

Matt Belisle started the ninth, and gave up a leadoff double by Kris Bryant.

Oliver Perez came on to face Anthony Rizzo and gave up a two-run blast to right that bounced off the back wall of the bullpen, 3-2 Cubs.

That's how it end-- not so fast... Bryce Harper walked to start the Nationals' ninth, moved up on a groundout and scored on a two-out single to left by Wilson Ramos.

Another blown save by Hector Rondon, who hadn't blown one before coming to D.C. 3-3 game.

Albert Almora, Jr. singled off Yusmeiro Petit, took second on a wild pitch and scored on an RBI single to center by Addison Russell in the top of the eleventh, but Michael A. Taylor drove Danny Espinosa in with an RBI single in the bottom of the inning to tie it back up at 4-4.

Jayson Werth won it with a walk-off single that scored Taylor, 5-4 final.

Nationals now 40-26

NATS NOTES:

• Last night's win was the Chicago Cubs' 15th in their las 20 games and it put them 25 games over .500 at 44-19, the franchise's best start through 63 games since the 1918 Cubs went 45-18 through the first 63.
• Washington lost last night, but they still had wins in four of their last five, seven of their last nine and 11 of their last 15 overall.
• The Nationals' 40-25 start was the best record through 65 games in franchise history (2005-present) and it matched the best start in the entire franchise's history, matching the 1979 and 1994 Montreal Expos.
• The Cubs' win last night left them 5-1 against the Nationals this season after they took all four in Wrigley Field in May.
• On the year, the Cubs are 29-3 when scoring first.
• In today's Nationals-themed "Fun with Arbitrary End Points" segment: Washington's offense ranks second in SLG (.489), third in AVG (.289), third in OBP (.349) and third in runs scored (73)... since June 1st.
• In a bonus Nationals-themed "Fun with Arbitrary End Points" segment: Danny Espinosa leads the majors in runs scored and is tied for third in SLG (.729)... since May 26th.
• Daniel Murphy started the day leading the majors in AVG (.361). He was also tied for second in multi-hit games with 28, second in OPS (.996) and third in SLG (.593) and hits (87).
• Last night's blown save for Cubs' closer Hector Rondon was his first of the season. He had successfully converted 11 save opportunities this season before that and 22 overall going back to last August.

Nationals now 40-26