WASHINGTON (AP)ed their best for last — bad news for a Nationals bullpen that’s having a hard enough time as it is.Bryant matched a career high with three home runs and drove in five while the Cubs piled on against Washington’s bullpen in a 14-6 win Friday night.Bryant went deep in the seventh Hisashi Iwakuma Jersey , eighth and ninth innings, making him the 12th player to homer in three straight innings.Article continues below ...“It’s tied for first, I guess. I don’t know. The other (three-homer game) in Cincinnati was great. I had one more hit there,” Bryant said. “It was just a great night all around. Myself, a lot of the rest of us had great at-bats.”Bryant finished with four hits and extended his on-base streak to 26 games, a career best and the longest active run in the majors.“We have seen him hit the ball consistently harder over the last two or three weeks,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. “He looks like he (did) a couple of years ago, and he is also reacting with the same kind of confidence. It’s a good thing to watch right now.”Albert Almora Jr., Kyle Schwarber and Willson Contreras also homered to help the NL Central-leading Cubs (26-16) snap a two-game skid. Javier Baez extended the majors’ longest hitting streak to 15 games.Contreras also had four hits. His ninth-inning homer off Matt Grace capped an 11-run barrage for the Cubs against the Nationals’ beleaguered bullpen.Schwarber broke open a one-run game in the eighth with a two-run homer against Kyle Barraclough that concluded a 13-pitch at-bat. Bryant followed two pitches later with his 10th homer.“The bullpen holds us, different ballgame,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. “They just couldn’t do it tonight.”Chicago starter Cole Hamels (4-0) won for the fourth time in five starts. The left-hander tossed five effective innings, squirming out of two bases-loaded jams, as the Cubs improved to 7-2 in his nine starts this season.The only damage Hamels allowed was a two-run home run to Anthony Rendon in the third inning.Washington (18-26) has yet to win three in a row this season and has dropped all six of Scherzer’s home starts.Scherzer (2-5) struggled with his command over six innings. He walked a season-high four and gave up a two-run homer to Almora, his fourth of the season Ken Griffey Jersey , in the second. Scherzer also struck out eight before exiting.Trea Turner went 2 for 5 in his return from a broken right index finger that kept the Nationals shortstop out of the lineup for 38 games.Almora made a diving catch in center field to rob Juan Soto of a hit in the ninth inning.SLOW STARTERSThe Nationals fell to 2-13 in series openers this season.“We’re just not getting the job done,” second baseman Brian Dozier said. “We preached, ‘Gotta win the first game.’ But at the same time, we haven’t done a good job at that. There’s no better way to fix that than to just start winning them.”TRAINER’S ROOMCubs: Cubs: 1B Anthony Rizzo (back) returned to the lineup after missing four games and went 1 for 5 with a strikeout and run scored.Nationals: OF Victor Robles was hit on the left wrist by a pitch and left the game in the fourth inning. Martinez said Robles had a contusion on the wrist, but X-rays were negative…RHP Justin Miller suffered a rotator-cuff strain in his brief relief appearance and will likely undergo and MRI Saturday…RHP Anibal Sánchez was placed on the 10-day injured list (strained left hamstring)UP NEXTCubs: LHP Jon Lester (3-1, 1.16) has not allowed an earned run in his last starts. He’s 2-2 with a 4.25 ERA in seven career starts against the Nationals.Nationals: RHP Steven Strasburg (3-3, 3.63) has lost his last two starts. He is 1-1 with a 2.23 ERA in six career starts against the Cubs. DENVER (AP) — Daniel Murphy had no second thoughts about the Colorado Rockies bringing him in to play first base.As for taking his kids to get a picture with Santa at the mall just days before the holiday? Hey, at least the whole family was wearing Rockies purple for the photo.“Stood in line for an hour and a half,” Murphy cracked Friday in a teleconference call from Jacksonville, Florida. “I’m just excited it all went through.”The 33-year-old Murphy signed a $24 million, two-year deal that includes a mutual option in 2021. Although he’s played way more games at second base, the plan is for Murphy to take over at first. That means Ian Desmond will move to one of the outfield spots.It’s another way to add a little more sizzle to the lineup after the Rockies batted a franchise-worst .256 in 2018. A lifetime .299 hitter, Murphy figures to raise that batting average.“A professional hitter for a long period of time,” general manager Jeff Bridich said. “He has a lot of different skills as an offensive player that I think will complement the guys we theoretically have in our lineup.”Murphy’s place in the batting order probably won’t be determined until manager Bud Black gets a feel for things in spring training. Murphy does have a preference http://www.marinersfanproshop.com/authentic-edgar-martinez-jersey , though — anywhere that helps.“I like to fancy myself as pretty low maintenance,” Murphy said. “They’re going to construct a lineup each and every night they think is going to put us in the best position to win baseball games. Wherever my name ends up, that’s my favorite spot.”This is how his deal breaks down: Murphy gets $10 million in 2019 and $8 million in 2020, and the deal includes a $12 million mutual option for 2021 with a $6 million buyout, of which half is deferred without interest to January 2022.He can earn $100,000 for Comeback Player of the Year, $100,000 for World Series MVP, $75,000 for League Championship Series MVP, $50,000 for Silver Slugger, $25,000 for Gold Glove http://www.marinersfanproshop.com/authentic-edgar-martinez-jersey , $25,000 for All-Star, $100,000 for league MVP, and $50,000 for finishing second through fifth in the MVP voting. If he earns any award bonus, the option buyout increases to $7 million, of which $4 million is deferred without interest to January 2022.In addition, Murphy would get a $2 million assignment bonus each time he is traded.Murphy started slow last season as he recovered from right knee surgery. He said he underestimated just how long it would take to get back into the swing of things. He still hit .299 over 91 games with Washington and the Chicago Cubs, a team that traded for him in August.“There were certain things that my body didn’t do that it did pre-surgery,” the three-time All-Star said. “But I think that was more a function of being that close to surgery. I’m hoping that an entire offseason to get healthy, to get strong, to get further away from surgery, I’ll look a little bit more like I did in 2017.”Or 2016 for that matter Nelson Cruz Jersey , when he hit .347 and was second in the NL MVP voting. It wasn’t hard to sell him on joining the Rockies, given a lineup that boasts Nolan Arenado, Trevor Story, Desmond and Charlie Blackmon.“Hopefully I can step in and fall into place and try to extend a lineup that is already really potent and really dangerous,” Murphy said.Over his career, Murphy has appeared in more games at second base (834) than first (225). Still, he said he feels comfortable at first.“I don’t think I’m breaking any new ground to say I was never probably an elite defender at second base,” Murphy said. “I’m probably a better defensive player at first. First base is going to be a place that I can best impact this ball club in a positive way.”He brings leadership, too. He’s been a postseason regular in recent seasons, including the 2015 World Series while with the New York Mets.The Rockies have been to the playoffs in back-to-back seasons for the first time in franchise history. They were eliminated by the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL divisional round in 2018 after knocking off Murphy and the Cubs in the wild-card game.“His track record in the postseason speaks for itself, in terms of however you want to put it, either rising to the occasion or being a relaxed and confident player under stressful conditions,” Bridich said. “The expectation and the hope is his slow heartbeat and his experience can make our team better in those types of stressful situations.”