Before the game started at Nationals Park, the national anthem was sung by local singer DC Washington.
Washington-starter Gio Gonzalez retired the side (two strikeouts) in the top of the first inning.
Moments later, the home team opened the score in the bottom of the first when Anthony Rendon homered with two outs.
Chicago came alongside in the top of the second inning when Willson Contreras led off with a homerun.
Another homerun accounted for a lead for the Cubs in the top of the fourth inning.
Kris Bryant led off the at bat with a double, then scored when next hitter Anthony Rizzo hit a homerun.
An umpire review followed to check whether or not there was fan-interference.
That wasn't the case and so, the homerun was upheld and Chicago led 3-1.
Chicago got an opportunity to add another run in the top of the fifth.
Javier Báez then led off with a walk and moved to second base with one out on a sacrifice bunt by Jon Lester.
Hereafter, Báez stole third base, but then was left behind.
In the bottom of the fifth, it was Washington that got a scoring opportunity, but left three runners behind.
Ryan Zimmerman led off with a single off of Jon Lester, who had ten batters in a row since giving up the homerun in the first inning.
Two flyouts followed, but Washington then got the bases loaded.
First, Zimmerman stole second base and later advanced to third base on a wild pitch.
Hereafter, Michael A. Taylor and pinch-hitter Howie Kendrick both walked.
Lester then closed the at bat by striking out Trea Turner.
This season, the Nationals set franchise-records with 819 runs scored and 215 homeruns.
However, for the second day in a row, the team appeared not to produce.
But that changed in the eighth inning.
In the sixth, the Nats were retired in order again by Lester.
In the seventh, Lester hit Matt Wieters with a pitch with two outs, but he was then forced out.
In the meantime, the Cubs were also silenced.
In the top of the sixth, off of new pitcher Matt Albers, Willson Contreras walked with two outs, but was left at first base.
In the seventh, Ben Zobrist led off with a single for the reigning champion, but the next three hitters were retired in order.
After turning a double play in the top of the eighth, Washington got its lead-off hitter on base in the home half of the at bat off of new pitcher Carl Edwards, Jr., who took over from reliever Pedro Strop.
Pinch-hitter Adam Lind led off with a single in his first-ever postseason at bat, despite playing in the Majors since 2006!
With his pinch-runner Victor Robles on first base, Edwards struckout the next hitter, but then gave up a 2-run homerun to Bryce Harper, which tied the score.
The 24-year old Harper, who plays in the Majors since 2012, was sidelined with a knee-injury since August 13 and didn't return until September 26.
Harper hit his last (and 29th) homerun on August 7 against Miami Marlins.
Hereafter, Anthony Rendon walked, which led to another pitching change.
Mike Montgomery took over, but was greeted with a single by Daniel Murphy.
Next hitter Ryan Zimmerman then hit the ball into leftfield, where it just cleared the wall for a 3-run homerun to put Washington ahead, 6-3.
In the top of the ninth, Sean Doolittle closed the game for the Nationals and earned a save.
With one out, he gave up a single to Addison Russell, but a double play then ended the game.
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Washington rallies in eighth inning to win against Chicago
WASHINGTON, D.C. (USA) -
Washington Nationals won 6-3 on Saturday-evening (October 7) against Chicago Cubs to even the best-of-five National League Division Series.
Chicago opened the Series on Friday with a 3-0 shutout-win.
The Series now moves to Chicago, where Games 3 and 4 will be played at historic Wrigley Field on Monday and Tuesday.
Washington trailed 3-1 when it rallied for five runs in the bottom of the eighth to turn the game its way, thanks to homeruns by Bryce Harper and Ryan Zimmerman.
All runs in the game were scored on the five homeruns that were hit tonight.