BOX SCORE

The Cubs kicked off their longest road trip of the season so far on Tuesday at Nationals Park in Washington D.C.

They couldn’t have drawn up a better start.

The Cubs offense erupted for four runs in the fifth inning to win the first game of a three-game set against the Nationals 8-3. Chicago (38-22) plays nine games on the road beginning Tuesday as they begin a stretch of 26 games in 27 days.

Here are three takeaways from the win over the Nationals (28-32):

Busch’s league

The Cubs offense has had so many contributors that some of them may be going under the radar – Michael Busch tops among them. The first baseman was 3-for-3 on Tuesday with three RBI and was a double shy of the cycle.

That performance moved his OPS to a whopping .895. His OPS would be the best on 10 of the other 14 teams in the National League among qualified hitters. It’s second-best on the Cubs and yet you might consider him as the fourth-most fearsome hitter on this lineup. That’s just how deep they are.

We’re reaching a point where you expect Kyle Tucker, Seiya Suzuki and Pete Crow-Armstrong to be this level of production offensively. But they will have slumps at points throughout this year – it’s the nature of the game – and having multiple options who can carry an offense is vital.

While Tucker is nursing his jammed right ring finger, the offense didn’t skip a beat, thanks in large part to Busch on Tuesday. That’s the sign of a good offense and what makes this 60-game start feel like it’s sustainable.

PCA’s historic pace – and achievement

Speaking of strong offensive performances, Crow-Armstrong continued to shine – and did something he rarely does on Tuesday. The center fielder garnered a pair of walks – the second time in his career he’s had a multi-walk game with both coming in the last three games.

The Nationals saw firsthand how much chaos he can cause on the basepaths. He led the four-run fifth inning with a hustle double, stole second and allowed Carson Kelly to reach first base on a groundball to third base. That’s because José Tena fielded the ground ball from Kelly, Crow-Armstrong broke home, forcing Tena to charge to third and not make a throw. He scored a batter later and stole another base in the sixth.

He is on a historic pace to start the year, too.

That’s a solid performance after he went 5-for-22 (.227) on the homestand – a “cold streak” for Crow-Armstrong you might say. He quickly got back on track.

Lefty’s wild

Cade Horton is experiencing a lot of firsts as he continues his rookie campaign. Tuesday he had a unique one – facing a lineup comprised entirely of lefties.

The Nationals are only the second team to use nine hitters from the left-side – two of them were switch hitters – joining the Cleveland Guardians. Despite what might have appeared to be a platoon advantage, Cade Horton pitched into the sixth inning and kept the Cubs in the game.

The rookie allowed just three earned runs on six hits in 5.1 innings, throwing 77 pitches. He allowed a leadoff double to James Wood to start the inning, struck out Nathaniel Lowe and allowed a single to Luis García Jr. Counsell turned to Caleb Thielbar to turn around Josh Bell who struggles from the right side. It worked, Bell grounded into an inning-ending double play.

There may be a few more righties in the lineup on Wednesday when Matthew Boyd takes the mound. But the Cubs have not named a starter for Thursday’s finale – Colin Rea is in line for that day, but they could opt to use an opener to combat the platoon advantage. Lefties have an .897 OPS against Rea.