The Los Angeles Dodgers saw their season-high four-game winning streak snapped at the hands of the Washington Nationals on Friday, in the first of a three-game series at Dodger Stadium.
The opening contest featured one of the best starting pitching duels in recent memory, with Clayton Kershaw and Max Scherzer opposing each other on the mound. It was just the 13th time in MLB history where both starting pitchers with at least three Cy Young Awards faced off against each other.
The rare meeting was rather one-sided, however, as Kershaw was tabbed with nine hits and four earned runs over seven innings. Scherzer, meanwhile, yielded just four hits and one earned run in six innings of work.
The Dodgers ultimately weren’t able to cash in with runners in scoring position, going 2-for-12 in that department. After the loss, Kershaw credited Scherzer for limiting runs in his outing, per SportsNet LA:
“Some positives, but at the end of the day, just not enough good pitches with runners in scoring position to get out of jams. When you’re going against Max, it’s going to be tough.”
The Nationals’ game plan was evident from the very first pitch, and that was attacking Kershaw early in the count.
Bryce Harper and Ryan Zimmerman delivered RBI singles in the first inning, immediately giving the Nationals a two-run cushion. While it proved effective, Kershaw wasn’t surprised by the aggressive approach at the plate:
“I usually expect that with every team. First pitch of the game, maybe they’ll foul one off. Sometimes they do, sometimes they miss. Howie hit one hard, Bryce found a hole, but other than that, I’ve got make a better pitch to Zimmerman, maybe get out of that with one run or something like that. It happens, I guess.”
The approach, which went against their tendencies this season, particularly against left-handed pitching, helped the Nationals defeat Kershaw for the first time since 2010.
