After avoiding a sweep on Thursday night with a walk-off win, the Los Angeles Dodgers tried to continue building on their momentum with the opener of a three-game series on Friday night against the Washington Nationals.
The Dodgers swept the Nationals earlier this season at Nationals Park (April 3-5), outscoring them 31-17 during that series. Seven different Dodgers homered in the three-game set, while the team hit nine total home runs.
It was another similar story for the Dodgers as they made easy work of the Nationals in the opener. L.A. has now won five in a row against Washington, dating back to June 22, 2025.
Dodgers 5, Nationals 3: key takeaways
Trio of slumping Dodgers contribute on offense
Mookie Betts, Teoscar Hernández and Kyle Tucker have all had down years in 2026, but contributed in the win on Friday night. For Betts and Hernández, it’s been a continuation of their recent play, as both have been getting hot and contributing over the last few games.
Tucker scored the first run of the game, starting a third inning rally on a leadoff walk. He ended up scoring after advancing to second on a walk from Kiké Hernández and crossing home on a single from Betts.
With two runners still on, Teoscar Hernández gave the Dodgers some breathing room with a two-run double, bringing home both Kiké Hernández and Betts, to put the Dodgers up 3-0.
Over his last seven games, Hernández is batting .423/.516/.654, and the Dodgers have seen improvement in his at-bat quality since the series against the Detroit Tigers.
Alex Call started the fourth inning with a double, and he ended up scoring when the Nationals made a two-out error.
The fifth run of the game was scored on a solo home run from Tucker in the sixth inning. That was Tucker’s first home run since Aug. 8 and his first at Dodger Stadium since July 15. He now has 12 on the season.
Blake Snell dominates again
Blake Snell turned in another excellent start, tossing six shutout innings while allowing five hits, striking out seven and walking two. The Nationals went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left five runners on base against Snell.
Since making his return from the injured list, Snell has struck out 38 batters in 29 innings. He also lowered his ERA to 1.97 in 32 total innings with 43 strikeouts and a 1.09 WHIP.
Snell allowed five runs (four earned) in his first outing of the season on May 9, and in his five starts since then, he’s allowed no more than one start in any of his five outings. The five hits he allowed on Friday were the most he’s allowed in a start since returning.
Dodgers bullpen struggles late
Edgardo Henriquez worked a perfect inning with two strikeouts in the seventh, but the bullpen started to slump from there.
Kyle Hurt started the eighth inning, but the inning had to be finished by Tanner Scott after two runners reached base. Scott was able to keep them off the board and strand the runners.
But the Nationals scored three in the ninth inning and put the tying run at the plate, despite the 5-0 lead. Seth Halvorsen allowed three runs on three hits, and Jack Dreyer had to record the save, recording all three outs and giving up one hit while striking out one.
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