2016 NLDS Game 5 vs. Chicago Cubs
Two Harper bombs at Wrigley couldn't save the dream from the Cubs.
2016 NLDS Game 5 is the defining postseason heartbreak for a generation of Washington Nationals fans. Played at Wrigley Field in Chicago, it was the decider of a five-game National League Division Series pitting the Nationals against the Chicago Cubs. Bryce Harper's two-home-run performance gave the capital's faithful a glimmer of hope, but the Cubs ultimately prevailed to close out the series 3-2 and advance to the NLCS. For the Nationals, this game sits at the intersection of their modern renaissance—the era that began with the 2012 NLDS loss to the Cardinals and the 2014 NLDS loss to the Giants. The 2016 campaign was widely expected to be the year, and losing in the Division Series, with the game decided at Wrigley, cemented a narrative of near-misses that still echoes through the fanbase.
Quick Facts
- Key nationals performer
- Bryce Harper (2 home runs)
Lore & Background
The 2016 Nationals entered the postseason as the NL East champions with 95 wins, carrying the momentum of a season that felt like it was finally putting the 2014 NLDS loss to the Giants to bed. Home-field advantage sat with Chicago, meaning the series would end at Wrigley Field if it went the distance—and it did. The first four games were a back-and-forth slugfest that kept both fanbases on edge. By the time Game 5 arrived, the Nationals were one loss from elimination.
Bryce Harper, the reigning 2015 MVP and the face of the franchise, answered with a two-homer outburst that became one of the most iconic individual performances in the team's short modern history. Yet baseball is a team sport, and the Cubs' depth—behind a rotation and bullpen that would go on to win the World Series—proved too much in the end. In the broader sweep of Nationals lore, Game 5 of 2016 occupies a place alongside the 2014 NLDS loss and the 2019 Wild Card win (followed by a World Series championship): a moment where the ceiling felt within reach and the floor caught them just short.
It is the game fans replay mentally every October, the 'what if' that haunts the franchise's identity as a team perpetually one step away from the summit.
Reader's Guide
With the Cubs holding home-field advantage, Game 5 landed at Wrigley Field, and the stakes could not have been higher: one more loss and the Nationals' season was over. Bryce Harper delivered a three-home-run performance, one of the most memorable individual outings in the franchise's postseason history. The Nationals' offense roared, and for stretches of the game the capital's fans in the upper deck believed the upset was within reach. But the Cubs' pitching and overall depth carried them to the win, closing the series 3-2.
Chicago advanced to the NLCS and, ultimately, to the World Series title. The game is remembered not just for the result but for the feeling it left behind. It crystallized the Nationals' identity in the 2010s: a team that could compete with anyone, that could produce legendary individual moments, yet kept falling one game short of the championship stage. For fans who followed the club through the 2012, 2014, and 2016 runs, Wrigley Field in 2016 became a pilgrimage site of 'almost'—the place where the dream kept breaking just before it landed.
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