Dodgers Scores

Dodgers Highlights: LA Pitching Struggles, Can’t Complete Sweep vs Nats

The Dodgers scratched and clawed but couldn’t work around the fact that Noah Syndergaard was on the mound in a frustrating 10-6 loss to the Nationals. LA held the lead at two different points in the game but Washington just kept pecking away in a fairly unclean effort by the Dodgers.

Let’s take a look at the highlights of this one.



After Syndergaard (shockingly) held the Nats scoreless in the first, the Dodger bats got to work quickly in the first with Mookie Betts connecting on the 40th lead off home run of his career.

Freddie Freeman followed with a loud single to left center field before Willy lowered the boom for a two run yeesh.

But, good leads like that don't last with Noah Syndergaard on the mound. The right-hander quickly gave two runs back on a pair of solo home runs, including one to former Dodger top prospect Keibert Ruiz. The Nationals tied it in the top of the 3rd with a 2 out RBI single off the bat of third baseman Jeimer Candelario.

The Dodgers got took the lead back in the bottom of the third in a frustrating inning that should have caused a lot more damage for Washington. Freeman reached on an error and stole second base. Will Smith singled for his 2nd hit of the game. J.D. Martinez walked to load the bases and Max Muncy walked to bring in a run.

... Then Chris Taylor struck out, Miguel Vargas popped out in the infield, and Miguel Rojas grounded into a force play to end the threat. The game changed in this frame and, after a scoreless 4th inning, the Nats took the lead for the first time in the 5th on a 2 run homer to Candelario, giving him 3 runs batted in on the afternoon.

5-4 Washington. Thankfully that ended the afternoon for Syndergaard.

Caleb Ferguson and Alex Vesia kept the Nationals off the board in the 6th and 7th, though Vesia pitched around some traffic to put up his zero.

The Dodgers didn't wake back up until the bottom of the 7th when they work hard to manufacture a run to tie the game at 5. Chris Taylor worked a one out walk on a pitch clock violation by the Nats pitcher. He promptly stole second base then, after a Miguel Vargas strikeout, scored the tying run on a Miguel Rojas single.

The good feeling didn't last long, sadly. Brusdar Graterol nearly walked a tight rope to escape the top of the 8th unscathed. Instead, this happened.

Graterol had a chance to pitch an otherwise simpler inning but tried to make a hero play on defense and threw the ball away to put runners on first and third with no out. Here's a partial view of what that looked like.

8-5 Washington heading to the bottom of the 8th.

Despite all the air being out of the sails at the time, the offense tried to battle back again. Mookie Betts hit his second homer of the afternoon, a no doubter over the center field wall. Freddie Freeman followed with a single and stolen base, LA's 6th bag swiped of the day. But they couldn't get over the hump beyond that point with the next three hitters getting out.

8-6 Washington heading to the 9th... but that quickly changed with Keibert Ruiz's second homer of the game, a 2 run job off Phil Bickford that firmly sealed LA's fate. The Dodgers went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 9th to end it.

Up Next

The Dodgers are off on Thursday for a much needed day off at home in LA. After, the stage is set for a big series against the New York Yankees at Dodger Stadium. Clayton Kershaw gets the ball in game one on Friday.

Clint Pasillas

Clint Pasillas has been writing, blogging, and podcasting about the Los Angeles Dodgers since 2008. Under Clint's leadership as the Lead Editor, Dodgers Nation has grown into one of the most read baseball sites in the world with millions of unique visitors per month. Find him online on Twitter/X or his YouTube channel!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button