by Megan Garcia
The Dodgers have often been resilient when falling behind in games this year. With a series sweep on the line by the Nationals, the Dodgers showed their fight and with it fought back into the win column.
They beat the Nationals 6–5 at Nationals Park with Andy Pages and Teoscar Hernández leading the offense in the comeback victory. It snapped the Dodgers’ three-game losing streak.
The Dodgers lost four of their first five games on the road trip entering Wednesday. But after building a four-run lead only to give it all back and fall behind, the Dodgers pieced together another comeback — like they’ve done in seven other wins.
After the first four Dodgers scored off Washington’s Jake Irvin, capped by a two-run homer by Hernández, Dodger starting pitcher Landon Knack had trouble controlling the strike zone.
Meanwhile, after their initial outburst, only three of the next 21 Dodgers got on base against Irvin, via two walks and a single.
Pages was the sparkplug to ignite the comeback in the seventh. His solo homer against reliever Eduardo Salazar was his second homer in two days, tying the score at 5–5.
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Pages was looking for his break at the plate after starting 3-for-30 in his first 10 games. In three games in the nation’s capital, He went 4-for-11 with a walk and 10 total bases.
Hernández’s go-ahead single on a slider four at-bats later to score Shohei Ohtani (2-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base) put the Dodgers ahead. Hernández was 2-for-16 against breaking pitches before Salazar left one over the middle of the plate. It marked his fourth multi-hit game of the season and third of the roadtrip.
The Dodgers have trailed in 12 of 14 games this season. Their eight comeback wins lead Major League Baseball. The Dodgers also improved to 8–2 when they hit two or more home runs in a game.
“We kind of had a little bit of sloppy defense throughout the road trip. We had some moments offensively, but we also had some empty at-bats,” said Kiké Hernández, who made what might have been a game-saving diving play for a forceout in the bottom of the ninth inning. “We just had a tough week. Today was a nice way to end a tough road trip.”
The Bullpen Comes Up Clutch
Six Dodger relivers combined for 6 2/3 scoreless innings after Knack’s 2 1/3-inning start. Blake Treinen secured his second save, and Kirby Yates was credited with his first Dodger win.
“We were all kind of ready for whatever happened today,” Yates said. “We all had some rest, and we were fresh. As a group and individually, I think we’re ready for whatever is thrown at us.”
The Nationals went 1-for-20 against the Dodger bullpen with three walks and seven strikeouts.
After Jack Dreyer retired five of the six batters he faced, fellow relievers Anthony Banda, Tanner Scott and Alex Vesia each retired the side in order.
Freddie Freeman’s Return
Roberts said Freddie Freeman is expected to return to the lineup on Friday. The first baseman has taken live at-bats at Dodger Stadium during the team’s road trip. Freeman’s ankle looks better than how he started the season, Roberts added.
The Dodgers pull off a comeback win to salvage series against the Nationals was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.