Dodger hitting and pitching in sync in dominant win against Nationals
by Cary Osborne
Five days ago, in the middle of the Dodgers’ struggles this past homestand, manager Dave Roberts said his team had played three complete games this season.
It’s now twice in the last three games where the Dodgers have unlocked their potential and dominated a National League East opponent.
They walloped the Mets on Sunday to end a difficult homestand, and on Tuesday they punished the capital city-dwelling Nationals.
The Dodgers collected a season-high 20 hits on Tuesday and Los Angeles pitchers retired the final 23 batters they faced in an 11–2 victory in Washington D.C.
Complete game.
The Dodgers have now won three games in a row, beginning with their 10–0 win against the Mets on Sunday.
Over the last three games:
- Dodger starting pitchers have allowed three earned runs over 18 2/3 innings (1.45 ERA).
- Dodger relief pitchers have allowed no earned runs over 8 1/3 innings.
- Dodgers 7–8–9 hitters have driven in nine runs.
- Dodger batters are 15-for-36 (.417) with runners in scoring position
The eight doubles on Tuesday tied a Los Angeles Dodgers record, last done on Aug. 9, 2022.
Will Smith and Mookie Betts each had four hits. They also each had four hits on March 21 in the Dodgers’ 15–11 loss to the Padres in South Korea.
The eight-nine in the Dodger order — Gavin Lux and rookie Andy Pages went 5-for-10 with three RBI.
Pages hit his second career homer, a solo shot in the seventh, and finished a triple short of the cycle. Lux’s two-run single in the top of the fifth inning was a backbreaker — extending the Dodgers’ lead to 6–2 at the time.
It was Lux’s first multi-hit game since March 30, and he doubled his RBI total for the season to four.
Eight of the Dodgers’ nine batters reached base in the game. Seven of them reached multiple times.
Shohei Ohtani added three hits — all doubles.
He has a nine-game hitting streak and is batting .429/.500/.714/1.214 during the stretch.
The Dodgers touched up Nationals starter Jake Irvin for six runs on 12 hits in his 4 2/3 innings. Irvin shut the Dodgers out on April 17 over six innings, allowing four hits.
The other side of the complete game was Dodger pitching — starting with rookie Landon Knack, who earned his first career victory in a rematch against Irvin.
For the second time in two Major League starts, Knack showed the ability to dig out of trouble.
He began his Major League debut on April 17 with a 28-pitch, two-run first inning. The right-hander didn’t allow another run in a five-inning outing.
Knack had a 34-pitch, two-run second inning on Tuesday. He retired the final 13 batters he faced.
Ryan Brasier added three more and Ryan Yarbrough sat down the final six to make it 22 batters in a row retired.
