Dodgers have allowed 12 runs in the first two games of this series against the fourth-lowest-scoring team in the National League.
Dodgers opponents have scored first in all six games this week, and though in four of the first five such games they were able to win, no comeback was in the cards on Saturday. The Nationals hit five home runs to beat Los Angeles 7-3 in the middle game this weekend at Dodger Stadium.
James Wood hit three home runs and drove in seven when these two teams met in Washington D.C. in April, but the Dodgers held the Nationals best hitter off the board with an 0-for-5 on Friday. In the fourth inning Saturday, Wood launched a ball 451 feet to center field, over the black tarp and into the upper half of the right field pavilion to open the scoring.
Dustin May’s next pitch was also hit out to a similar spot, this one more toward right field by second baseman Luis García Jr., just the second time this season May has allowed multiple home runs in a start.
Nathaniel Lowe hit one just high enough the opposite way, off the top of the left field wall in the sixth inning for a third solo home run off May, and Lowe later added another solo shot off reliever Lou Trivino in the eighth.
Nationals hitters were aggressive early in counts against May, with nine of his 25 batters faced concluding their time at the plate within two pitches. That allowed the right-hander to get through his six innings on just 84 pitches.
Washington wasn’t alone in the solo home run party, as Andy Pages and Will Smith — the Dodgers’ two best hitters this week — tallied long balls in the fifth and sixth innings, respectively, to keep the Dodgers close.
The solo party ended with a bang in the seventh when Jack Dreyer was greeted with a perfectly-placed flyball double by Keibert Ruíz and a two-run home run by CJ Abrams, giving the Nationals their largest lead of the night. It’s the first home run allowed by Dreyer in 30 appearances and 39⅔ innings this season.
Dodgers best early chance at scoring came with this Max Muncy fly ball in the fourth inning. Center fielder Jacob Young had no idea where the ball was, and it might have dropped for a run near the warning track well behind him were it not for a hustling Daylen Lile coming all the way over from right field to snag it.
Of note
Will Klein, the right-hander called up on Friday, entered Saturday’s game in the eighth inning, the 34th Dodgers pitcher this season, five more than any other team in the majors.
Saturday particulars
Home runs: Andy Pages (16), Will Smith (9), Teoscar Hernández (14); James Wood (21), Luis García Jr. (7), Nathaniel Lowe 2 (12), CJ Abrams (11)
WP — Jake Irvin (6-3): 5⅓ IP, 6 hits, 2 runs, 7 strikeouts
LP — Dustin May (4-5): 6 IP, 5 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts
Up next
The homestand ends on Sunday afternoon (1:10 pm., SportsNet LA), with Shohei Ohtani making start number two with the Dodgers and Michael Soroka on the mound for Washington.