The Los Angeles Dodgers played another sloppy game early in the season as they dropped their series opener against the Washington Nationals, 6-4, behind a pair of errors.
Mookie Betts made the first error, which allowed the Nationals to take an early 1-0 lead. The batted ball should have been a double play to get out of the inning, but it went under Betts’ glove.
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The next batter, James Wood, hit a ground ball to second base that Miguel Rojas booted off his glove. That allowed the second run of the inning to score, giving the Nationals a 2-0 lead.
The Dodgers came back to tie the game when Chris Taylor singled and Shohei Ohtani blasted a home run ti tie the game in the third inning. But the tie was short-lived as the Nationals re-took the lead in the bottom half of the inning.
Dustin May allowed a pair of singles that put the Nationals up 3-2, but outside of that, the right-hander had a great day on the mound.
May ended up going six innings while allowing just three hits. He had some struggles with his command, walking three, and did not get many whiffs with just one strikeout, but at one point, he retired 11 straight hitters.
The Nationals broke the game open in the seventh inning after Anthony Banda and Matt Sauer took over. Wood blasted a two-run homer off Banda and Keibert Ruiz doubled home a run against Sauer, making it a 6-2 game.
The Dodgers added their third run after Michael Conforto walked and Betts singled him home in the eighth. Will Smith singled home another run to cut the Nationals’ lead to just two.
Ohtani finished his day a double shy of the cycle, hitting a single, homer and triple in his first three at-bats. He struck out in his fourth at-bat.
Dodgers visit White House
Prior to their series against the Nationals, the Dodgers made the trip to the White House to celebrate their 2024 World Series championship after accepting an invitation from President Donald Trump.
Clayton Kershaw spoke on behalf of his teammates, and joined owner Mark Walter in presenting a Dodgers jersey with “Trump” and “47” to the president.
“This is an incredible honor for me to be standing here representing the Los Angeles Dodgers and this group of staff and players behind me,” Kershaw said during his speech. “The 2024 Los Angeles Dodgers season is one that will go down in the history books.
“Always holding a special place in the hearts of myself, and those there with me as well as millions of Dodger fans around the world. This organization exemplifies what it means to come together as one for a greater purpose and represent something so much bigger than themselves.
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