WASHINGTON — The Dodgers weren’t playing flawless baseball even when their record was flawless.
That hasn’t changed. But the results have.
Neither the defense nor the bullpen was at its best on a cold Monday night at Nationals Park and the Washington Nationals beat the Dodgers, 6-4, handing the formerly unbeaten Dodgers their third loss in four games on this road trip.
Shohei Ohtani emerged from a 1-for-11 weekend in Philadelphia to go 3 for 4 with a single, a triple and a two-run home run, all off of Nationals starter MacKenzie Gore. But the rest of the Dodgers’ lineup had just two hits in the first six innings against Gore.
Dodgers starter Dustin May walked two in the first inning but ran into real trouble in the second when his defense complicated matters.
Another walk and a single put two runners on to start the inning. Jose Tena tried to bunt them over but dropped his attempt right in front of home plate. Dodgers catcher Will Smith got the force out at third.
Dylan Crews hit a hard ground ball to Mookie Betts’ left that went through him for an error. One run scored on the play. Another scored when Miguel Rojas flubbed James Wood’s ground ball to the second baseman’s right.
Ohtani’s two-run home run tied the score, but the Nationals regained the lead in the third inning.
Luis Garcia Jr. led off with a single and stole second – one of three stolen bases the Nationals had in the game. Nathaniel Lowe drove him in with an RBI single two batters later.
May retired the next 11 Nationals in order before leaving after six innings (matching Yoshinobu Yamamoto as the only Dodgers pitchers to pitch that deep into a game this season). But the Nationals pulled away with a three-run seventh inning against the Dodgers’ bullpen.
Anthony Banda replaced May in the seventh and gave up hits to three of the four batters he faced, including a two-run home run to Wood. Matt Sauer came in and gave up an RBI double to Keibert Ruiz that.
Dodgers relievers have given up eight runs in 15 innings over the first four games of this trip.
Those extra runs proved decisive. The Dodgers scored twice in the eighth inning on RBI singles from Betts and Smith. But Nationals reliever Kyle Finnegan – pitching in a third consecutive game – stranded the tying runs on base in the ninth to record a five-out save.
More to come on this story.
Originally Published:
