There was a second rain delay of the series but this time play resumed after a 1-hour and 44-minute wait, and the Los Angeles Dodgers came away with a 5-3 victory over the Washington Nationals.
The Dodgers can now complete a sweep at Nationals Park on the Fourth of July, and they have tied a season-best winning streak at eight games.
L.A. was slow to get the offense going against Paolo Espino, who retired nine in a row after Mookie Betts opened the game with a base hit. The Dodgers finally had a baserunner reach when Max Muncy worked a leadoff walk in the fourth inning, and it sparked a rally.
A Justin Turner single and Cody Bellinger walk loaded the bases with nobody out, then Will Smith’s sacrifice fly broke up the scoreless tie. Albert Pujols doubled the lead with his own sac. fly and Gavin Lux added an RBI single.
With the rain storm fast approaching, Clayton Kershaw struggled to put the Nationals away after getting two outs in the bottom of the fourth. Starlin Castro’s flare single into center field put two on and was followed by Yan Gomes depositing a hanging curveball into the seats for a game-tying three-run home run.
Neither starter returned to the mound because of the length of the rain delay, and the Dodgers again found success against the Nationals’ bullpen and benefitted from sloppy infield defense.
After Wander Suero hit Smith with a pitch, Alcides Escobar failed to cleanly come up with a grounder at shortstop. His throw to second base was late and Pujols also reached safely, which was compounded by the ball getting by Ryan Zimmerman.
AJ Pollock took advantage with two outs by beating out a dribbler to third base for a go-ahead RBI infield single. Chris Taylor delivered some insurance in the ninth with a base hit to score Gavin Lux, who walked and stole second base.
Joe Kelly needed to work out of a bases-loaded situation in the sixth inning and Kenley Jansen saw the tying runners reach with nobody out in the ninth before managing to convert the save opportunity.
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