However, the third strike got past Wieters, and Báez ran to first on the passed ball. Rather than hold the ball at home to prevent the Cubs from scoring, Wieters tried to throw out Báez at first, and his throw went into right field, allowing Russell to score, Heyward to advance to third, and Báez to reach second, and giving Chicago a 6-4 lead. Wieters asked the umpires to declare the ball dead and the play a strikeout on the grounds of offensive interference, claiming Báez's bat had hit him in the back of the head on the backswing – a contention confirmed by video evidence – but the umpires made a controversial ruling that even if the bat had struck Wieters, it did not interfere with the play and did not merit a ruling that the ball was dead, and they let the play stand. Next, Cubs pinch-hitter Tommy La Stella reached first base on a catcher's interference call against Wieters, loading the bases, and Scherzer followed that by hitting Jon Jay in the foot with a pitch, sending him to first and forcing in Heyward from third to increase Chicago's lead to 7-4. Kris Bryant returned to the plate as the tenth Cubs batter of the inning, and popped out on Scherzer's 28th pitch to bring the shocking inning to a close. After the game, Cubs manager Joe Maddon described the inning as "bizarro world," and Scherzer said, "I′m sure I′ve been in some crazy stuff before, but nothing like that." It was the first time in recorded MLB history, a total of some 2.73 million half-innings, that an intentional walk, a passed-ball strikeout, catcher's interference, and a hit batsman had ever occurred in a single half-inning. In the top of the sixth inning, the Cubs extended their lead to 8-4 when Zobrist, now playing left field, walked and Russell doubled – the ball rolling to the left-field wall right past a sliding Jayson Werth, who lost it in the stadium's lights – to drive Zobrist in. In the bottom of the sixth, the Nationals began to battle back. After getting the first two outs, Chicago reliever Pedro Strop walked Jayson Werth. Mike Montgomery relieved Strop and promptly gave up a double to Bryce Harper that advanced Werth to third. Next, he walked Ryan Zimmerman on a wild pitch that allowed Werth to score – cutting Chicago's lead to 8-5 – and advanced Harper to third.