The Los Angeles Dodgers went into the series finale against the Washington Nationals on Wednesday needing a win to avoid being swept in the rematch of the 2016 National League Division Series.
While the Dodgers sent Clayton Kershaw to the mound, they faced a formidable challenge in Stephen Strasburg. He looked to expand on Max Scherzer’s dominant performance the night prior in which he set a season high with 14 strikeouts.
Kershaw admittedly did not pitch to the best of his capabilities. He nonetheless held the Nationals to one run on three hits, and had nine strikeouts on 95 pitches in seven innings.
The damage came on a first-pitch fastball to Ryan Zimmerman in the second inning that was lined over the short wall in left field for a solo home run. Strasburg made the 1-0 lead stand until the sixth inning.
He retired 12 batters in a row before allowing a game-tying home run to Corey Seager with two outs in the sixth. Seager’s blast came after Kershaw (nine pitches) and Chris Taylor (eight) each put together lengthy at-bats.
“That nine-pitch at-bat from Clayton changed the momentum to our side,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said postgame.
Matters then took a turn for the worse, as Adrian Gonzalez kept the inning alive by reaching when Jose Lobaton dropped strike three. Gonzalez then advanced to second base on a wild pitch by Strasburg.
Yasmani Grandal capitalized on the runner in scoring position, with his fly ball to the left-center field gap falling for an RBI double just out of Ryan Raburn’s reach on a diving attempt.
Pedro Baez fielded his position to escape trouble in the eighth inning, and Kenley Jansen converted a five-out save in the Dodgers’ 2-1 victory.
