Nationals take 2-1 lead vs. Dodgers, near playoff breakthrough
They traveled 2,300 miles and went to bed about 3 a.m. in body clock time for the chance to get an early wake-up call and then be yelled at by nearly 54,000 fans in a Dodger Stadium matinee.
It was absolutely worth it.
The Washington Nationals rode two four-run rallies and 4 2/3 scoreless innings from their bullpen to an 8-3 win against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday that gave them a 2-1 lead in their National League Division Series.
The Nationals, the NL East champions three of the last five years, are on the verge of advancing to their first league championship series since moving to the nation’s capital in 2005.
“I feel like this is our chance,” said left fielder Jayson Werth, who went 3-for-4 with two RBI, one of them coming on a 450-foot homer in the ninth inning.
Now the biggest question becomes who will take the ball for both clubs in Tuesday’s elimination game.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has penciled in 20-year-old rookie Julio Urias, who logged a 1.99 ERA over his last 10 outings, but is considering going with three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw on three days’ rest. Kershaw threw 101 pitches in the series opener Friday.
“We’re in talks,” Roberts said when asked after the loss who would start Tuesday. “Obviously, the use of the ’pen today, no off day tomorrow — we’re playing tomorrow — those are the things we’re going to keep in mind, but we’re not ready to announce yet.
“You look at Julio at home but you look at Kershaw on short rest at home. As an organization, we have to figure out what gives us the best chance tomorrow.”
The Nationals might opt for right-hander Joe Ross, who had a 3.43 ERA over 19 starts in the regular season but was hampered by shoulder inflammation and totaled 9 2/3 innings in his last three outings. Hard-throwing rookie Reynaldo Lopez, who has made six career starts, is a possibility as well.
Should there be a Game 5, staff ace Max Scherzer would start it on five days’ rest.
“We haven’t decided yet,” Nationals manager Dusty Baker said of Tuesday’s starter. “It’s probably between Lopez and Ross. Who’s starting for them?”
That’s what everybody wants to know.
Saturday’s rainout wiped out the travel day built into the schedule, forcing both teams to fly across the country after Sunday’s Game 2. They arrived at their homes/hotels around midnight Pacific.
That didn’t seem to bother Washington’s hitters.
Anthony Rendon’s two-run homer highlighted a four-run third against Kenta Maeda that put the Nationals up 4-1. They had allowed a shaky Maeda to wriggle out of trouble in a 28-pitch first inning, leaving the bases loaded, but pounced on him in the third.
Down 4-1 in the fifth, the Dodgers roared back behind a two-run pinch-hit homer by Carlos Ruiz that finished off Gio Gonzalez. The lefty starter had retired 11 of his last 12 batters before Joc Pederson singled with one out and Ruiz followed with a blast deep into the left-field seats to bring L.A. within 4-3. It stayed that way until Washington scored four runs in the ninth.
Werth further hurt his former franchise by crushing a leadoff homer in the ninth off closer Kenley Jansen, who also yielded a two-run double by Ryan Zimmerman that broke the game open.
For the second day in a row, neither team’s starting pitcher completed five innings, leaving the bullpen to pick up a substantial load. The teams combined to use 11 relievers, and lefty Sammy Solis played a key role with 12/3 innings of one-hit ball in replacing Gonzalez with one out in the fifth.
Solis calmed the waters for the Nationals just as the sellout crowd of 53,901 was starting to become a factor. He and his bullpen mates — Oliver Perez, Shawn Kelley and Mark Melancon — did not allow a runner past first base the rest of the way.
“He was outstanding,” Baker said of Solis. “He got behind a little bit and then I sent (pitching coach) Mike (Maddux) out to, like, call a 20-second timeout to take the crowd out of the game because they were getting excited.”
It didn’t last long.
GALLERY: DODGERS-NATIONALS CLASH IN NLDS