There was plenty up for grabs on Wednesday night as the Los Angeles Dodgers looked to keep pace with the San Francisco Giants, and extend their winning streak to six games by completing a sweep of the Washington Nationals.
Julio Urias opened the game with a strikeout and was primed for another but walked Jayson Werth on a full count after getting ahead 0-2. Bryce Harper struck out on three pitches, which evoked memories of his trouble against Clayton Kershaw in the series opener.
Urias then battled back against Daniel Murphy after falling behind 3-0, and got the second baseman to fly out to deep center. Chase Utley and Corey Seager led off the bottom of the first with back-to-back base hits.
Utley then tagged to give the Dodgers runners on the corners with one out on Justin Turner’s fly ball to center field. His baserunning paid off as the Dodgers took a 1-0 lead on a Joe Ross wild pitch.
The run scored was Utley’s 1,000th of his career, with a mere 51 of those coming as a Dodger. Ross got out of the inning on an Adrian Gonzalez fly out and Trayce Thompson line out. The Dodgers’ lead didn’t last long as Urias ran into trouble in the second.
Yasiel Puig was unable to make a diving catch in right-center field, which resulted in a one-out single for Ryan Zimmerman. A wild pitch allowed Zimmerman to advance to second base, and Anthony Rendon’s grounder to the right side moved him to third base.
Danny Espinosa then tied the game with an RBI double that hit off the top of the wall in left field, hit the railing in the pavilion and came back into the field of play. The ruling on the field was upheld after replay review.
Ross helped himself with a slicing RBI double down the right field to give the Nationals a 2-1 lead before Urias could get out of the inning. Ross recorded bookend strikeouts as part of a 1-2-3 bottom of the second.
After allowing a leadoff single to Werth in the third inning, Urias struck out Harper and Murphy. A Wilson Ramos fly out ended a scoreless inning for the young lefty. Ross needed all of four pitches to retire Urias and Utley in the bottom of the third.
He didn’t fare nearly as well against Seager, who tied the game with a solo home run to center field. Seager’s solo shot extended the Dodgers’ streak to 13 consecutive games with a home run. Urias erased a Zimmerman leadoff base hit in the fourth by picking him off.
A Joc Pederson walk and Yasmani Grandal single gave the Dodgers runners on the corners with two outs. Puig worked a poor at-bat and was fooled by Ross on a pitch low and away to end the inning.
Ross fouled out down the right field line on a lucky bounce for the Dodgers as Gonzalez caught the ricochet off Utley’s glove. Urias struck out Taylor a third time in as many at-bats, then gave up a double to Werth.
Another pop-up in foul territory spelled adventure for the Dodgers, with the ball inexplicably landing between Grandal and Turner in front of their dugout. It didn’t cost the Dodgers however, as Harper fouled out just off third base to end the inning.
Ross worked around a Seager double with two outs in the bottom of the fifth to keep the game locked in a 2-2 tie. Casey Fien started his second inning of work by walking Rendon. He was caught stealing, though it wasn’t without the Dodgers challenging the safe call.
With Espinosa standing on first base following a drag bunt, Ross pulled his bunt back and singled to left field. Fien struck out Taylor and got Werth to fly out to end another scoreless inning.
Grandal and Puig combined for back-to-back singles with none out in the bottom of the seventh. Scott Van Slyke entered as a pinch-runner for Grandal, and A.J. Ellis pinch-hit for Fien. Ellis advanced both runners with a sacrifice bunt, which prompted Oliver Perez to come on in relief.
He struck out pinch-hitter Kiké Hernandez on three pitches, and got Seager to fly out to end the inning. Adam Liberatore retired Harper and Murphy in the eighth and handed the ball over to Pedro Baez.
He promptly allowed a solo home run to Ramos that was crushed halfway up the pavilion in left field. Nationals relievers Felipe Rivero and Shawn Kelley combined to retire the side in order in the bottom of the eighth.
The Nationals managed to load the bases on Baez in the ninth but Chris Hatcher got the Dodgers out of the jam. Pinch-hitter Howie Kendrick lined a single into right field, then Puig followed with a base hit to center that Taylor overran.
Puig and Kendrick scored on the play to give the Dodgers a walk-off 4-3 victory.
