Nationals no-hit Cubs into 7th inning, win 7-0

Cade Cavalli took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, and the Washington Nationals beat the Chicago Cubs 7-0 on Thursday to avoid a three-game sweep.

Michael Busch delivered the Cubs’ lone hit with an opposite-field bloop single to left with two outs in the seventh. The Nationals Park crowd then applauded Cavalli, who was trying to throw Washington’s first no-hitter since Max Scherzer did it twice in 2015.

Cavalli (10-5), who turns 28 on Friday, retired the first 15 batters before walking Dansby Swanson to open the sixth. Swanson was quickly erased on Michael Conforto’s double-play grounder.

The Nationals didn’t muster a baserunner against Kevin Gausman (6-11) until Abimelec Ortiz’s one-out single in the fourth.

RHP Clay Holmes (4-5, 2.86 ERA) makes his second start as a Cub as Chicago returns home Friday to begin a three-game series against St. Louis. 


(AP Photo Nick Wass)