Steve Webb
Julio Urias didn’t have his best stuff yesterday, but it didn’t matter. The Dodgers rode some clutch two-out hitting to victory in the second game of their weekend series against the Washington Nationals. The Nats got some firepower from wunderkind Juan Soto, but in the end the Dodgers’ offense was too clutch today, winning by a score of 9-5.
Julio Urias was a little shaky from the get-go. In the top of the first inning he gave up three singles that plated one run for the Nationals. However, the Dodgers offense would answer with runs of their own in the following frame. After Nats starter Patrick Corbin walked the first three hitters of the bottom of the second, Gavin Lux grounded into a force at home.
But then, clutch time. Zach McKinstry, who continues to impress, sent an RBI single into right field that drove in two. Then, after a Julio Urias ground out, Chris Taylor stepped to the plate with two outs. On the first pitch of the at-bat, he launched a ball into the left field seats, scoring Lux and McKinstry ahead of him. The Dodgers were ahead 5-1 and would never look back.
The Dodgers would add another run in the fifth on a Justin Turner double, and it looked like the Dodgers would coast to the win. The Nats, however, had other ideas. Julio Urias seemed to be cruising, but Juan Soto crushed the first of two homers into the right field seats, and Ryan Zimmerman scored from third on a Jan Gomes single. Suddenly it was 6-3 with the tying run coming to the plate with two outs.
Manager Dave Roberts had seen enough. He lifted Urias in favor of Jimmy Nelson, who has still been struggling to find himself in the regular season. He was pretty wild to the first hitter, and in fact hit Yadiel Hernandez with a wild 3-2 pitch, which ironically may have saved a run, as the ball seemed headed for the backstop with a runner on third. Bases loaded. But Nelson dug deep. He got the next hitter, Andrew Stephenson, to chase some pitches out of the zone, and managed to strike him out on four pitches. The biggest moment so far for Nelson as a Dodger.
The Dodgers had a three-run lead, but it was still a little too close for comfort. That is, until the bottom of the 7th inning. After two quick outs, Justin Turner hit a solid double. Will Smith was intentionally walked, and Max Muncy was able to leg out an infield single. Bases loaded, two outs. The mirror image of the Nats’ last threat. Pitcher Sam Clay was replaced by Kyle Finnegan, who would face AJ Pollock. AJ came up big time. He ripped a line drive to left and Andrew Stephenson closed on it hard and dove for the catch. The ball just missed Stephenson’s outstretched glove and bounced toward the fence. Before the ball was retrieved, the bases had cleared and Pollock was sitting on second with a clutch double.
The score now 9-3, the Dodgers were able to cruise to victory. Dennis Santana and Scott Alexander finished up the game and even though the Nats got a couple of runs in the 9th (one on another Soto home run), the outcome of the game was never really in doubt after the Pollock double.
And for AJ Pollock, still hitting only .233 on the young season, it was a hit that he really needed. The Dodgers wrap up the series against the Nats on Sunday, with a marquee matinee. Clayton Kershaw vs. Max Scherzer. Should be fun!
