Behind Jose Lobaton’s three-run home run and Daniel Murphy’s clutch hitting, the Washington Nationals pulled even with the Los Angeles Dodgers in the best-of-five National League Division Series. While Lobaton landed the big blow on Rich Hill and the Dodgers, it was set up an improbable sequence.
For the second time on the afternoon, Nationals shortstop Danny Espinosa was hit by a pitch with two outs. Espinosa went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts in Game 1, each time going down with runner in scoring position.
“Well, who else do I have? That’s my answer,” Nationals manager Dusty Baker said prior to Game 2 when asked why he’s continued to start Espinosa.
“I mean, you can give me somebody better, then I can play somebody instead of him. You know, certain times you have certain people on your team and that’s what you’ve got. My job is to hopefully get the most out of them and make them better.”
Espinosa was one of six Nationals who hit at least 20 home runs this season. But his 2016 campaign was very much a tale of two halves. Prior to the All-Star break, he hit .239/.334/.458 with 18 home runs and 49 RBIs.
Espinosa then batted .172/.272/.280 with six home runs and 91 strikeouts during the unofficial second half.
The Nationals’ back-up shortstop is the left-handed hitting Stephen Drew, who understandably did not get a start with the Dodgers throwing Clayton Kershaw in Rich Hill in the first two games of the series.
Baker did say after Sunday’s win that he would stick with switch-hitting Espinosa in Game 3 against Kenta Maeda. A Santa Ana, Calif., native, Espinosa attended Long Beach State University.
