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Wang guides Nats past Cubs

Aug 10, 2011 - 5:02 AM Chicago, IL (Sports Network) - Chien-Ming Wang tossed six innings of one-hit baseball to pick up his first win in over two years, as the Washington Nationals held off the Chicago Cubs, 3-1.

Wang (1-2), who had a no-hitter broken up in the sixth, walked two and struck out one in his first victory since June 28, 2009. The sinkerballer made his third start of the season for the Nationals after returning from a two-year big league absence.

A 19-game winner with the New York Yankees in 2006 and 2007, Wang was limited by injury to just nine wins over 27 appearances in 2008-09. He had shoulder surgery on July 30, 2009.

"He was sharp tonight," Nationals manager Davey Johnson said of Wang. "Everything they hit was on the ground. Just a magnificent performance."

Jonny Gomes and Michael Morse homered for the Nationals, who have won two in a row and seven of 10 overall.

Starlin Castro hit a solo homer for the Cubs, who have lost two straight since a seven-game winning streak.

Matt Garza (5-9) allowed three runs on six hits over six innings to suffer the loss. He struck out nine and walked two.

The teams were scheduled to start this three-game set on Monday, but the opener was postponed due to rain and a forecast of wet weather throughout the night. Instead, Tuesday's game became the opener with Monday's matchup re-scheduled for Thursday afternoon at 2:20 p.m. (et).

Wang and Garza dominated in the early going, but it was the Taiwan-born righty putting on a show.

The Nationals finally gave Wang some support in the sixth. With one down, Morse hit a solo homer to center. After Jayson Werth reached base on an infield single, Gomes cleared the wall in left for a 3-0 lead.

"It's tough when you make two mistakes and you struggle in a game," Cubs manager Mike Quade said of Garza.

Wang hit a batter and gave up two walks through five innings, but had yet to allow a hit.

That all changed in the home sixth when pinch-hitter Tony Campana hit a sharp grounder off the glove of first baseman Morse. Second baseman Danny Espinosa made a nice stop and threw to first, but not in time to beat Campana. With the no-hitter over, Campana stole second. Wang was able to retire the next three batters to keep it 3-0.

Tyler Clippard gave up a solo homer to Castro in the eighth to make it 3-1.

Drew Storen worked around a one-out walk in the ninth for his 30th save of the season.

Game Notes

The Nationals have won four of five meetings with Chicago this season after the Cubs took four of six matchups a year ago...Washington third baseman Ryan Zimmerman extended his hitting streak to 17 games with a single in the first...The Cubs have hit 16 home runs in a season-high seven straight games.