The pitcher’s duel at Dodger Stadium came one night later than expected, as Hyun-Jin Ryu outpitched Stephen Strasburg to help lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 4-0 win over the Washington Nationals.
Ryu did allow the Nationals to put at least one runner on in each of the first three innings, including facing a bases-loaded jam in the third. But after back-to-back walks of Bryce Harper and Ryan Zimmerman, he induced Moises Sierra into a groundout.
Ryu bounced back from the stressful inning to strike out the side in the fourth, and he retired the side in order in the fifth inning. Ryu retired 13 in a row and finished with eight strikeouts over seven shutout innings.
Since a shaky 2018 debut against the Arizona Diamondbacks, he’s allowed just two runs and six hits, while recording 25 strikeouts in 19 innings over his last three starts.
Strasburg scattered five hits and collected 10 strikeouts in seven innings. A fastball to Joc Pederson in the second inning held up as the difference for much of the night. The home run was Pederson’s first this season and served as a nice present of sorts on his 26th birthday.
The Dodgers had a golden opportunity to extend their lead in the bottom of the sixth when Chris Taylor’s leadoff single, Corey Seager’s walk and a hit by pitch loaded the bases with nobody out. But Strasburg relied on his fastball to strike out Cody Bellinger, Pederson and Matt Kemp.
Strasburg’s string of strikeouts ran to five, until it was snapped by a Kiké Hernandez pinch-hit home run with two outs in the bottom of the seventh. Bellinger’s two-run home run in the eighth inning provided more insurance for the Dodgers.
It was Bellinger’s first hit on any bobblehead night with the Dodgers — including last season’s when he went 0-for-5 with two strikeouts.
Tony Cingrani and Kenley Jansen each threw a scoreless inning, and Dodgers pitchers combined to retire 19 of the final 20 Nationals batters to finish out the game. The lone blemish was a two-out walk Jansen issued in the ninth.
