Dodgers’ vs Nationals: Starting pitchers: LA Kershaw DC Gore. LA’s starting lineup. Ohtani DH, Betts SS, Smith C, Hernandez RF, Pages CF, Edman 2B, Conforto LF, Hernandez 1B, Rojas 3B. Records LA 46-30 1st in the NL West. DC 31-44 4th in the NL East:
In the top of the first, Kershaw allowed a first pitch homer to Rosario, who was batting second and retired all of the other Nats hitters. DC 1. In the bottom of the first, Ohtani walked, but Betts, pop out, Smith, hit himself with a batted ball, and Teo, strike out, stranded him on first. In the second, Kersh walked Lowe, then House struck out. Kersh 11 from 3000. Call singled and Riley hit into a double-play.
Pages led off the second with a single. He was then caught stealing. Edman lined out to short and Conforto flied out to center. In the top of the third, Young flied out to right. Abrams singled. Rosario singled. Kershaw then struck out Wood and Chaparro. Now just 9 Ks away from 3000. Kike led off the third with a ground rule double. Miggy grounded out softly to the pitcher, with Kike taking third. Ohtani walked. Betts hit what looked like a double-play grounder to third, but Betts beat the relay to first, and Kike scored. LA had challenged the out call at first.
Smith then walked and Teo hit a ball that SS Abrams knocked down, but threw wide to second for an error, Betts scored. 2-1 LA. Pages singled to center scoring Smith. 3-1 LA. Edman struck out to end the inning. Kershaw got the Nats out in order on 6 pitches in the top of the 4th. Conforto led off the 4th and struck out. Kike flied out to right. Rojas then doubled down the right field line. He went to third on a passed ball. Ohtani singled him home. 4-1 LA. Betts flied out to right.
In the fifth, Adams led off with a homer against Kershaw. Young singled to center and Abrams struck out. Rosario grounded out to Rojas. Wood grounded out to Betts. Keshaw finished the night with 4 Ks, leaving him 8 from 3000 and he allowed 2 runs, both on homers. LA went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 5th. Kopech took over in the top of the 6th. Chaparro flied out to center. Lowe struck out, House singled and Call struck out swinging. ‘
Bottom of the 6th, Edman grounded out and Conforto flied out to left. Kike walked and Miggy Ro homered to left his 3rd of the year. LA 6 DC 2. Vesia in to pitch the top of the 7th. Vesia hits Adams. Young lined out to center. Abrams singled and Rosario walked loading the bases. Wood struck out. Yates relieves Vesia. Garcia pinch hits for Chaparro, and lines a double to right, Adams and Young score. 6-4 LA. Lowe then hit a sinking liner to left that Conforto makes a diving catch on ending the inning.
Betts doubled and Smith walked in the bottom of the 7th. Teo popped out to first. Pages hit into a force play with Betts taking third. Edman flied out to left. Dreyer came in to pitch the top of the 8th. He got House to fly out, a ground out by Call, and then he struck out Adams. In the bottom of the 8th, Conforto flied out. Kike hit his second double and Muncy, pinch hitting for Rojas walked. Ohtani struck out and Mookie grounded out to third.
Top of the 9th, Scott in to pitch. He got Young to fly out to right. Abrams then homered to center making it 6-5. Rosario grounded out to short, and Wood grounded out to Edman ending the game. Kershaw got his 3rd win, Scott his 15th save. Kike, Pages and Rojas all had 2 hits apiece. LA had 9 total. Prior to the game, LA sent Little back to AAA and called up Klein.
Minor League Results
OKC got crushed by Round Rock, 13-4. Funkhouser took the loss. OKC had 12 hits. Freeland, Outman, Hoese and Feduccia all had 2 hits apiece. Okey returned to action and played first base. He was 1-4. Funkhouser took one for the team going 4 innings and giving up 11 earned runs. The other 2 runs came off of Carlson. Frasso pitched a scoreless 9th. Midland shut out Tulsa 2-0. The Drillers managed just 5 hits. Heubeck took the loss, his 4th. Keith was 2-4.
Peoria beat Great Lakes 7-1. The Loons managed just 5 hits. Sirota was 1-2 and is now hitting .342 with an OPS of 1.067. Nevin was 2-4. Ibarra gave up 3 runs, and Romero allowed 4. Rancho out slugged San Bernadino to win 10-7. Quintero was 3-5 with a homer and 2 driven in. Diaz was 2-3 with 2 homers and 5 driven in. Elkins and Munoz had 2 hits each. Foeller got the win, his 3rd, even though he allowed 6 runs in his 5 innings of work. Godwin got his first save.
Around the League
Kyle Gibson opted out of his deal with the Rays. The Dodgers got some help as the Royals beat the Padres 6-5 and the Red Sox beat the Giants, 7-5. LA now leads the Giants by 4.5 and the Padres by 6. Tatis Jr. was in the Padres lineup, so his hand was not injured seriously when he was hit by Little last night. Devers went 0-5 against the Sox pitchers tonight. Roberts was suspended for one game and served that suspension tonight. Danny Lehmann was the acting manager.
May against Irwin tomorrow and Ohtani makes his second start on Sunday. Good win for the team.
I’ve been battling a nasty flu for the past week but still managed to watch every game. It seems our pitching has galvanized enough to where we will win or battle our way through the coming season barring more injuries. Kershaw is still enough to stand in and deliver. What more can we ask of this demi-god.
It was thrilling for me to see Shohei on the mound the other day. Indeed, historic! The only thing I miss seeing from him is his base stealing which will probably be toned down since his move to the mound. Safety first.
Relievers are beginning to look believable again. Scott, 15th save today, gives up a HR and barely blinks. Love it. The team is looking like magic again.
Quintero is really performing. Interesting Frasso as.a reliever.