LOS ANGELES — It was another Clayton Kershaw bump day at Dodger Stadium, and he had a solid outing, going five innings, only allowing two runs on five hits, while striking out four. Those four punchouts inch him closer to 3,000 strikeouts as he now only needs eight more strikeouts to complete the feat. Additionally, with some help from the bats of Andy Pages, Kike Hernández, and Miguel Rojas notably, Los Angeles was able to secure the series opener against the Washington Nationals by a tight score of 6-5.
Second baseman Amed Rosario started the scoring bid in the top half of the first with his fourth homer of the year to make it an early 1-0 lead for Washington, but the Dodgers would answer back quickly in the bottom of the third after Mookie Betts beat out a throw on a double play attempt that allowed Hernández to score. Teoscar Hernández would follow suit as he would hit a go-ahead RBI single that allowed Betts to score and give the Dodgers their first lead of the night. Pages is continuing to make a strong case for his first All-Star appearance, as he would knock a 91 mph cutter to center to add extra insurance and complete the three-spot inning for Los Angeles.
Shohei Ohtani began the bottom of the fourth with an RBI single of his own, which extended the Dodgers’ lead 4-1, but would be quickly redacted via another solo home run, this time by Riley Adams, to cut Washington’s deficit by two. Rojas provided the much-needed boost on offense as he hit a go-ahead two-run homer with an exit velocity of 105 mph off the bat.
The Nats were knocking on the door of a comeback, as with the bases loaded and two outs, Luis García hit a two-run double, his 18th double of the season, to cut the Dodgers’ lead to 6-4. Nathaniel Lowe came up after García and was looking to do more damage, but a diving play in right field by Michael Conforto saved multiple runs and bailed Kirby Yates out of the seventh.
Washington would tack on one more run via a solo shot by CJ Abrams, his 10th of the season, in the ninth to make it a 6-5 Dodgers lead, but Tanner Scott would settle down and record the next two outs to secure his 15th save of the season. With this win, Los Angeles now holds a 4.5-game lead over the second-place San Francisco Giants and a six-game lead over the San Diego Padres after both teams lost in their respective games.