Washington right-hander Jake Irvin will look to win his fourth straight start when the Nationals host the Chicago Cubs in the decisive game of a three-game series on Thursday.

Irvin (5-1, 3.93 ERA) will be opposed by Chicago left-hander Drew Pomeranz (2-0, 0.00), who will be working as an opener.

Over his past three starts, Irvin went from good to great to subpar. On May 17, he allowed two runs in 6 1/3 innings against the Baltimore Orioles. One week later, he threw eight scoreless innings and allowed three hits in a win versus the San Francisco Giants.

In his latest outing, he gave up six runs on 10 hits in five innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday but still was the winner. Irvin did not strike out a batter and got only three swing and misses on the night.

“I know this is a team that has given me a little bit of trouble in the past,” he said. “Maybe they just see the ball really well. But I think a lot of that is probably getting into a lot of bad counts and not staying on the offensive like I like to.”

Irvin is 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA in three starts versus the Cubs.

Pomeranz will put his perfect ERA on the line as he makes his second straight appearance as the opener. He tossed a perfect first inning on Saturday against the Cincinnati Reds as four Cubs pitchers combined for a one-hit shutout. He has thrown 13 2/3 innings this season, allowing four hits and three walks while fanning 15.

Anybody pitching on Thursday will be hard-pressed to match what happened on Wednesday night. Washington’s MacKenzie Gore threw seven shutout innings and outdueled Chicago’s Matthew Boyd, who took a perfect game into the sixth.

Amed Rosario homered and Nasim Nunez produced an RBI double for Washington in a 2-0 victory. Rosario extended his hitting streak to nine games in which he is 12-for-29 (.414) with a homer, three doubles, six RBIs and four runs. Both players were in the starting lineup for the first time in 10 days.

“Big win,” Gore said. “Guys that haven’t been playing stepped up huge tonight, which is cool to see. That’s what good teams do.”

The Nationals, who have won five of their last seven games, are looking for their third straight series win.

Boyd went 7 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on four hits in his longest outing since April 2021. The left-hander is 5-3 with a 3.01 ERA in his first full season since undergoing Tommy John surgery in June 2023.

“I think you’re seeing a pretty good version of him,” catcher Carson Kelly said, “and I think he’s going to get better.

The Cubs had won three straight and seven of eight before getting shut out for just the third time this season.

Chicago’s Seiya Suzuki singled and walked in four plate appearances. He has hit safely in 12 of his last 14 games, batting .340 (18-for-53) in that span.

Cubs right fielder Kyle Tucker, who started every game this year until sitting out on Tuesday with a jammed finger, pinch-hit in the ninth inning on Wednesday. Representing the go-ahead run at the plate, Tucker grounded out to end the game.

–Field Level Media