The set-up: The Cubs finally hit their stride coming out of the All Star break and opened a three-game series against Arizona on Tuesday with a 16-4 rout. That gave Chicago a 14-3 record since the break but after losing on Wednesday, the Cubs followed with a wild 10-8 loss in the rubber match of their series against Arizona on Thursday, marking their first back-to-back losses since the All-Star break. The Cubs now welcome the NL Est-leading Washingtoin Nationals to Wrigley Field, while holding a modest 1 1/2 game lead over the Brewers in the NL Central. The Nationals have dropped two straight series after losing their last two games at Miami when they were shut out for the third time in their last 13 games in Wednesday's 7-0 defeat. However, the Nationals are running away with the NL East (lead Miami by 12 games) and with the Dodgers almost assured of facing the wild card winner in one of the NLDS matchups, this Nats/Cubs series is starting to look like like a postseason preview of the other NLDS (that's assuming the Cubs can do their part and hold off the Brewers).

The pitching matchup:Tanner Roark (8-7 & 4.93 ERA) steps to the mound for the Nats on Friday afternoon, opposed by the Cubs' Kyle Hendricks (4-3 & 3.80 ERA). Roark won his first two starts after the All-Star break before taking the loss this past Saturday, 4-2 at home against Colorado (he ave up four runs in five innings and struck out eight but was hurt by four walks). Roark takes the mound 3-2 with a 4.31 ERA in six games (five starts / team is 2-3) against the Cubs in his career. Hendricks is still working his way back from a seven-week stint on the DL. He hasn't shown the same form in 2017 that he displayed in 2016, when his 2.13 ERA lead all major league starters. However, he has allowed just one run in each of his first two starts since coming off the DL, going 4 1/3 innings in his return and getting through five innings Saturday at Milwaukee. Hendricks is 2-1 with a 2.31 ERA in four starts against the Nationals (Cubs are 3-1).

The pick: Max Scherzer pulled himself out of his last start with neck spasms and he seems unlikely to be available this weekend. Manager Dusty Baker also told reporters on Wednesday that Stephen Strasburg, who missed his last start while on the disabled list with right elbow nerve impingement, "probably" won't be available this weekend. Adding insult to injury, Gio Gonzalez may be headed for the paternity list, as his wife is expected to give birth any day, which would take Gonzalez away from the team for one to three days. Clearly, the Nationals come into this series shorthanded when it comes to pitching but that Washington lineup comes in second in runs (5.48 per game) and OPS (.811) plus third in team BA (.275) and HRs (160). Chicago's Joe Maddon isn't a huge fan of looking ahead and prefers instead to dwell on the day-to-day as much as possible. "We've been playing a lot better, we've been pitching a lot better," Maddon said. "We're getting closer at a lot of different levels. The thing is we just keep pressing forward, one game at a time." Like Hendricks over Roark here. Make the Cubs an 8* play