Washington opened the score in the third inning off of Jake Arrieta after leaving a runner behind on first base in the first two at bats.
With one out in the top of the third inning, Trea Turner doubled, then moved to third base on a wild pitch.
With two outs, Bryce Harper walked and later stole second base.
Hereafter, Ryan Zimmerman's grounder to short ended in an error, which enabled Turner to score.
The run remained the lone one in the game for seven innings.
In the top of the fourth, Washington got into scoring position again when it got the bases loaded.
Anthony Rendon led off with a double and with one out Michael A. Taylor walked.
The two moved to second and third base via a sacrifice bunt by Stephen Strasburg, then Trea Turner walked.
The three were left behind, as Jake Arrieta closed by striking out Jayson Werth.
In the fifth inning, Jon Lester took over the pitching from Arrieta and retired the first ten batters he faced.
Lester was the starter last Saturday in Game 2 and then got a no-decision in a 6-3 loss.
In the eighth inning, Lester struckout lead-off hitter Bryce Harper, but then walked Ryan Zimmerman.
Hereafter, Zimmerman was picked off first base by Lester, which created an unique moment.
Lester became known for not making pick-offs, but now made three attempts, the first of which bounced on the ground before ending up in the glove of first baseman Anthony Rizzo.
On the third throw, Rizzo tagged Zimmerman on his leg while he dived back to the base, but he was initially ruled safe by 1B Umpire (and crew chief) Jerry Layne.
A challenge followed and the call was overturned.
In June of this season, Lester successfully picked off a runner, which was the first time for him since September 2015.
With two outs, Lester gave up a single to Daniel Murphy and was relieved by Carl Edwards, Jr..
He began with a wild pitch, then got the bases loaded when he walked Anthony Rendon and Matt Wieters.
Another pitching change followed and Wade Davis took over.
His third pitch to Michael A. Taylor ended up in the stands behind right-centerfield for a grand slam homerun to put Washington ahead, 5-0.
Washington-starter Stephen Strasburg did outstanding, despite having flu-like symptoms in the past few days.
After retiring the side in the first inning, Strasburg got two runners on base in the next at bat.
With two outs, he gave up a double to Ben Zobrist and with two outs, he walked Jason Heyward, but a grounder ended the inning.
Strasburg then struckout the side in the third.
He added three more strikeouts in the fourth, but also gave up a single.
With one out, Willson Contreras reached on a comeback infield-hit and moved to second base on a throwing error by Strasburg, who then struckout the next two hitters.
In the fifth, the righthander was supported with a double play.
In the bottom of the seventh, with an 1-0 lead, Strasburg again struckout the side to raise his total to twelve.
In the eighth, with a 5-0 lead, Ryan Madson took over from Strasburg and saw Chicago get into scoring position for the first time since the fourth inning.
With one out, he walked Ian Happ, then hit Jon Jay with a pitch, but then retired the next two hitters.
Sean Doolittle then retired the side in the ninth to close the game.
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Washington shuts out Chicago to force fifth game
CHICAGO, Illinois (USA) -
Washington Nationals shutout Chicago Cubs 5-0 on Wednesday (October 11) in Game Four of the best-of-five National League Division Series.
With that, the Nationals evened the Series at 2-2 and forced a fifth game that will be played on Thursday in Washington.
Chicago opened the Series on Friday with a 3-0 shutout-win.
Washington then won 6-3 on Saturday-evening to even the Series.
On Monday-evening, Chicago won 2-1 to take a 2-1 lead in the NLDS.