The Los Angeles Dodgers struggled to generate offense with Mookie Betts out of their lineup for a day of rest and were shut out for the first time this season in a 1-0 loss to the Washington Nationals. It marked a second consecutive series L.A. fell short of completing a sweep.
The Dodgers did manage to put a baserunner on in each of the first five innings, though were turned away by Erick Fedde every time. Their best opportunities came when Chris Taylor led off the second inning with a double, and on Hanser Alberto’s extra-base hit to start the fifth.
Max Muncy, Gavin Lux and Alberto failed to drive Taylor in. Alberto then made a mistake on the bases by trying to advance to third on a ground ball hit to his right.
Julio Urías issued two walks but held the Nationals without a hit until Nelson Cruz’s leadoff double in the bottom of the fifth. He got through that inning to keep the game knotted in a scoreless tie but the Nationals managed to break through in the sixth.
That was not without some assistance as Urías followed a leadoff walk by failing to field a sacrifice bunt attempt. César Hernández followed that with an RBI single to give the Nationals a decided 1-0 lead.
They appeared prime to add to that in the seventh by putting runners on second base and third base with nobody out. However, Yency Almonte collected back-to-back strikeouts and retired pinch-hitter Yadiel Hernandez to escape the jam.
Betts did make a pinch-hit appearance, though struck out looking on a pitch that appeared to be out of the zone. The Dodgers did go on to put two on base in the eighth inning but couldn’t end their string of stranding runners.
That also held true when Muncy walked and Lux singled with one out in the ninth.
Betts appearing but not scoring snapped his streak of crossing the plate at least once in 12 consecutive games, which tied with Rafael Furcal for a Los Angeles franchise record.
L.A. left nine on base and were 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position. The 1-0 loss was their first since Sept. 9, 2019, against the San Francisco Giants.
Daron Sutton filling in for Joe Davis on Dodgers broadcast
Wednesday marked the first of four games Daron Sutton will handle play-by-play duties in the Dodgers broadcast booth. He’s temporarily filling in for Joe Davis, who is fulfilling his national broadcast assignment with Fox this weekend.
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