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Dodgers Snap Stephen Strasburg’s Scoreless Innings Streak, But Ryan Zimmerman’s 2 Home Runs Lead Nationals To Win

Matthew Moreno
3 Min Read
Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

Ryan Zimmerman clubbed a pair of home runs to lead the Washington Nationals to a 7-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. The loss snapped the Dodgers’ four-game winning streak, though they finished with a pair of series wins on their road trip.

Hyun-Jin Ryu faced trouble in the second and fifth innings, but it was the latter he was unable to work out of. He walked Strasburg with two outs, then put Trea Turner on base, and was lifted after expending 30 pitches in the inning and 98 in the game.

Ross Stripling got the Dodgers out of that inning, though didn’t fare as well in the sixth. Anthony Rendon led off with a walk, Daniel Murphy lined a single into center field, and Zimmerman crushed an elevated slider for a go-ahead, three-run home run.

The Nationals got to Walker Buehler in the seventh despite the rookie right-hander opening the inning with back-to-back strikeouts. Buehler grazed Werth with a pitch, and Rendon followed with an RBI double to left field.

Zimmerman’s second home run, a solo shot in the eighth, came at the expense of Josh Ravin. He allowed another, a two-run homer to Josh Lind, before getting through the inning.

Whereas the Dodgers ended Strasburg’s unbeaten stretch last season, they snapped his scoreless innings streak on Sunday night. Strasburg began the night without allowing a run in 34 consecutive innings.

His streak was snapped with two outs in the second inning on a Logan Forsythe drive to deep center field. Michael A. Taylor had a read on the ball but had it go off his glove at the warning track, resulting in an RBI double.

The hit was one of only three Strasburg allowed over six innings of work. Yasiel Puig had the first, on a broken-bat infield single to lead off the second inning.

Puig then stole second base, the Dodgers’ second swiped bag of the game, and it loomed large as he scored on Forsythe’s hit. Los Angeles stole three bases off Strasburg, with Justin Turner and Curtis Granderson also getting involved.

The Dodgers got their first look at the Nationals’ overhauled bullpen, with Brandon Kintzler, Ryan Madson and Sean Doolittle each pitching an inning of relief.

Matthew Moreno is a journalist from Whittier, Calif., who is a credentialed reporter and is currently the Managing Editor of DodgerBlue.com and LakersNation.com. In addition to covering Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angels Lakers, Matthew has a strong passion for keeping up to date with the sneakerhead culture. It began with Michael Jordan and Air Jordan shoes, and has carried over to Kobe Bryant's signature line with Nike. Matthew previously was the lead editor and digital strategist at Dodgers Nation, and the co-editor and lead writer at Reign of Troy, where he covered USC Trojans Football. Matthew graduated from California State Long Beach University with a major in journalism and minor in communications. Contact: matt@mediumlargela.com