WASHINGTON (AP) — the Chicago Cubs on Saturday night — and early Sunday.Bryce Harper hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning and the Nationals rallied past the Cubs 6-5 to sweep a doubleheader delayed more than 3½ hours by rain.Max Scherzer pitched a complete game and Washington took advantage of the sloppy Cubs for a 10-3 victory in the opener. By the end of a long night Adam Engel Jersey , Chicago’s lead in the NL Central was down to 2½ games over Milwaukee.Anthony Rendon’s double off Steve Cishek scored Trea Turner to pull Washington to 5-4 in the seventh inning of the nightcap. Left-hander Justin Wilson (4-4) came on to face Harper, who drove a 1-1 pitch to straightaway center field for his 32nd home run. Harper also walked three times.“Patience, really,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said when asked what it took to get through the very long day and night.“It was nasty. It’s nasty for both teams. We’re pretty much at the mercy of the league and the rain, really. I’m proud of the guys just sticking in there and finishing the job.”Rendon had a solo homer and Adrian Sanchez added two hits and two RBIs for Washington.Wander Suero (2-0) got two outs for the win. Following an 89-minute rain delay in the middle of the eighth, Greg Holland worked the ninth to earn his second save in a game that ended at 1:44 a.m. on Sunday.Victor Caratini hit his first career grand slam off Nationals starter Jefry Rodriguez to give Chicago a 4-0 lead in the fourth.Washington pulled to 4-3 in the sixth on Rendon’s homer and an RBI double by Sanchez.Cubs starter Cole Hamels left with the lead after allowing three runs in 5 2/3 innings.“We got on top, we had a nice lead, Cole was pitching well and all of sudden they just rallied from behind,” manager Joe Maddon said. “We had the right pitchers lined up, they were rested, and (the Nationals) got us. They absolutely got us.”Bidding for a third straight NL Cy Young Award, Scherzer (17-6) gave up nine hits and struck out 11 without a walk. He also had an RBI single, raising his batting average to .270 this season.It was one of just six hits for Washington, which capitalized on nine walks and three errors by the Cubs. The Nationals scored five runs in the sixth on just two hits thanks to two errors and a wild pitch that resulted in a run.Martinez visited Scherzer on the mound after the Cubs scored twice in the ninth http://www.whitesoxfanproshop.com/authentic-paul-konerko-jersey , but left his ace in to get the final two outs.“He asked me what I wanted to do. I said I wanted to finish it,” Scherzer said, noting the 66-degree game-time temperature had him feeling good. “We’ve been playing some hot games and for the weather to cool off, you just felt like you had unlimited energy and for me, I still had plenty in the tank.”Scherzer retired 15 in a row during one stretch. He lost his shutout in the seventh.It was Scherzer’s second complete game of the season and 10th of his career.After Friday night’s game was rained out following more than four hours of delays, the start of Saturday’s first game was held up by showers for 2 hours, 10 minutes.Maddon went with a bullpen game, and the Nationals jumped in front early. Jaime Garcia (3-7), making his Cubs debut, walked the bases loaded with one out in the first inning and Juan Soto sent a hard grounder past first baseman Anthony Rizzo that was ruled a two-run single. That was all for Garcia, and Washington’s Matt Wieters provided a third run with an RBI single.A LA CARTSean Doolittle of Washington became the first reliever to use the Nationals Park bullpen cart, which debuted Aug. 17. “I had a lot of fun,” Doolittle said. “It was a really smooth ride.”WERTH HONOREDThe Nationals held a ceremony on the field between games placing outfielder Jayson Werth in their Ring of Honor. Signed to a $126 million, seven-year contract as a free agent after the 2010 season Lucas Giolito Jersey , Werth hit .263 with 109 homers and 393 RBIs and served as a team leader. The Nationals, who had not made the postseason prior to his arrival, won four NL East titles during his time with them. Werth threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the second game, with his son catching.TRAINER’S ROOMCubs: RF Ben Zobrist returned for the opener after being out of Friday’s lineup due to neck stiffness.UP NEXTCubs LHP Mike Montgomery (4-5, 3.76 ERA) opposes Nationals RHP Erick Fedde (1-3, 6.00) in Sunday’s series finale. Yet, in recent years, MLB has adopted a number of changes and updates, most notably instant-replay challenges. Evolution is possible, and the advent of the universal DH feels undeniably like evolution.As Ben Lindbergh of The Ringer noted in June, the performance of pitchers at the plate has been trending steadily downward from the beginning of the sport to today:"When two-way players were more common, players who were primarily pitchers hit almost as well as a league-average player in some seasons. But as the league's talent level improved and roles became more specialized, pitcher hitting soon went into a free fall that hasn't slowed since. ... In more than 1,900 plate appearances http://www.whitesoxfanproshop.com/authentic-paul-konerko-jersey , this year's pitchers have produced a .115/.146/.150 combined slash line, which translates to a minus-23 wRC+."There are exceptions, of course. The San Francisco Giants' Madison Bumgarner hit 15 home runs in 292 plate appearances from 2014 to 2017. He's a card-carrying member of the Pitchers Who Rake club and would surely balk if the bat were taken out of his hands.On the other hand, there are cautionary tales such as the St. Louis Cardinals' Adam Wainwright (season-ending Achilles tear while batting in 2015) and the New York Yankees' Masahiro Tanaka (two strained hamstrings suffered on a tag-up in June) that highlight the folly of having pitchers hit and run the bases.Is the "joy" of watching the game's preeminent hurlers take half-hearted hacks worth the risk of losing them for extended disabled-list stints?The designated hitter can also extend the careers of great hitters. How many fewer at-bats would a guy like David Ortiz have gotten without the DH rule? Even if you aren't a Boston Red Sox fan, would you honestly rather have seen those at-bats taken by a pitcher?Steve Nesius/Associated Press"If it were up to me, the [pitchers] would never take BP and never swing in the game," Mets manager Mickey Callaway told reporters in May. He's not alone in that sentiment.The designated hitter rule was adopted by the American League in 1973. Since that time, it's been the primary difference between the two leagues. Would eliminating it undermine the sanctity of the NL/AL divide?"The biggest remnant of league identity is the difference between DH and no DH," Manfred acknowledged. "I think that's a significant issue."Then again, we've had interleague play since 1997. The wall between the Senior and Junior circuits has already eroded. And seriously, NL fans: When your team plays a regular-season game in an AL park and employs the DH, are you upset? Or are you glad your lineup features actual hitters from the leadoff to the ninth spot and your pitcher gets to rest comfortably on the bench?Keep in mind, also: Adopting the DH for both leagues doesn't mean pitchers can never hit. The Giants might be persuaded to let Bumgarner take a few hacks even with the DH rule in place. And two-way Japanese star Shohei Ohtani (elbow issues aside) could represent a new type of player who toes the slab and digs into the box.Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty ImagesIn general, however Reynaldo Lopez Jersey , the vast majority of pitchers have no business wielding the lumber, just as the vast majority of slugging corner outfielders should never take the mound.The game would be helped rather than hurt by a universal DH. It'll have to go through the collective bargaining process, but it's tough to imagine players will fight it. It would mean fewer injuries for pitchers, after all, and the potential for hitters to prolong their careers.In 2016, I interviewed former MLB player Eric Byrnes about the idea of an automated strike zone. His words on that subject ring equally true in this case."Baseball players used to leave their gloves on the field between innings," Byrnes told me. "They used to take trains across the country instead of airplanes. They used to not have lights and not play night games. It's a simple progression."If you love double-switches and other such machinations, you're probably fuming. Again, we see you, purists.This is a when-not-if situation, though, and it's what's best for the future of the sport.It's time to embrace it. It's time to evolve.