Right when it looked like the Dodgers were in a position to add another series sweep to their 2019 portfolio, the Nationals showed up ready to play in the finale on Sunday, ultimately dominating the Dodgers in all aspects of play.
Former Los Angeles infielder Brian Dozier provided several of the many offensive fireworks for Washington, going 2-for-3 with a walk, a double, a long ball and two RBI. His two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth inning put the Nats out in front after the Dodgers led the entire first half of the game behind the pitching of righty starter Walker Buehler.
When the smoke cleared and the game finally ended, the Nationals walked away with an 11-4 victory. Nonetheless, the Dodgers still collected the series victory. Additionally, Los Angeles secured the season series win after splitting a four-game set at Chavez Ravine back in May and swiping two games from the Nats this weekend.
Regardless, the hero of the day for Washington was starter Stephen Strasburg. The 31-year-old right-hander threw an even 100 pitches over seven full innings, allowing just one earned run on two hits and no walks. He struck out nine Los Angeles batters and improved his record to 14-4.
Despite his success through the first four innings, Buehler began fading after Dozier’s fifth inning jack. Later that same inning, Anthony Rendon grounded a single to center that drove in Victor Robles, putting the Nats out in front, 3-1.
Buehler cracked at the seams in the sixth frame when his counterpart Strasburg lined a single to right field, scoring another former Dodger Howie Kendrick and stretching the Washington lead to three. One batter later, first baseman Joc Pederson threw a ball away that resulted in three earned runs. To add insult to injury, two batters later, Pederson couldn’t quite get to a pop-up in shallow right off the bat of Rendon, which resulted in another run. At the end of the sixth, the Nats were up 7-1 and seemingly had the game in hand.
Pederson’s throwing error was the Dodgers’ 20th error in their past 13 games. Collectively, these miscues have led to 14 unearned runs over the past 10 games. With defense once being one of the squad’s most valued strengths, Los Angeles now leads the entire National League with 77 errors.
Buehler’s final line was 5-1/3 innings pitched with seven runs (four earned) surrendered on eight hits and three very uncharacteristic walks. He struck out six.
Washington tacked on another four runs in the eight inning, highlighted by a Juan Soto two-run homer into the left-center field stands. All four eighth-inning runs were charged to Los Angeles reliever Jaime Schultz, who was recalled earlier in the weekend when swing man Ross Stripling was placed on the injured list.
The Dodgers made the final score somewhat respectable when Corey Seager launched a home run to center that scored Max Muncy and Russell Martin in the top of the ninth.
The Dodgers will now catch a plane to Denver, where they’ll prepare for a three-game set against division rival Colorado beginning on Monday.
The 2019 trade deadline is just three short days away.
So much for our internal options for our bullpen! Ugly offense, defense and bullpen of late has invaded our starting pitching! That was ugly!
Yep it sure was and today the dominos start falling. Mets agreed to a deal with the Jays for Stroman. Did not need to trade Thor in a 3 way trade.
Rays trade Hunter Wood to the Indians. Looks like things are heating up.
Not knowing yet what the Mets are giving up for Stroman, I really don’t understand the deal. I’m assuming they’re going to trade Syndergaard, but he would seem to have the higher ceiling plus more years of control remaining. I guess they have a plan and we’ll know what it is by Wednesday. Of course, maybe they’ll keep Thor and have just added a good starter for next year. They could probably convince him to re-sign since he comes from Long Island.
We need to see if we can convince them to trade us Lugo. He’s been very good over the past two years.
The Mets trade makes no sense to me , what am I missing?
You are missing the mindset of Brodie Van W. Only he knows what’s going on inside that head of his. I guess we need to see if they trade Thor or Wheeler or both or neither and then try to analyze all the moves together, but I agree with you Keith, it has me puzzled also.
If we get some decent bull pen help, I guess we won’t care what the Mets are doing.
Especially if we get it from them!
Pummel was a nice word for old fashioned ass whoopin. 3 days til the deadline. Report is that they are calling up Gonsolin, most likely for a spot in Tuesdays game which will be a BP game. My guess is that it is sayonara to Schultz. Matt Beaty did it again. That guy is sure growing on me. Smith ended his day with a hit. Good to see Corey put a charge into one.
Dozier is sure playing better for DC than he did for us. Opposite field dinger, pretty nice hitting. He had a nice series.
Re: Dozier. The Dodgers have a long history of midseason acquisitions of supposedly good players who cease to be good when they arrive in LA. It is to the point that I cringe regardless of whom the team is acquiring. I’ve attributed cynically the ‘new acquisition swoon’ to the image of SoCal lifestyle. “I’m going to LA – time to kick back and enjoy the sun.” (In fairness, some have arrived with hidden injuries).
Boy you got that right Waldo. I was just thinking of Reddick this morning. Good before he got here, good after he left and basically missing in action while he was here. And that’s just one other example. The good news is we aren’t expecting anything out of Kristopher Negron so can’t be disappointed.
The scary thought is what if we give away 12 great prospects for Vazquez and he’s a total washout when he gets here. We have no clue how he would respond to the big lights of Hollywood or a playoff run. Let’s see if we have a chance to find out.
The lucky teams are the teams that are out of the playoff hunt. They can afford to shop around now for talent that might help them next year, without overpaying out of desperation.