Cody Snavely
Game 25, 4/23/2024: Dodgers 4, Nationals 1
WASHINGTON, DC—The Los Angeles Dodgers head to our Nation’s Capital to begin their nine-game road trip. The Dodgers hope to rebound after a rough homestand that saw them drop all three series, including one, to these same Nationals.
The Nationals are fresh off two straight series wins and are looking to make it three in a row in front of their home fans. However, the Dodgers look to keep the momentum going after a dominating 10-0 win over the Mets this past Sunday.
James Paxton will take the mound for the Dodgers, looking to improve his record on the young season to 3-0 while limiting the free passes after he allowed an astounding eight free passes on walks his last time out.
The Nationals will counter with their own left-handed pitcher, veteran arm Patrick Corbin, whom the Dodgers pegged for the loss last week in their lone win of the series.
For most of the game, each left-handed starter went toe-to-toe in different ways. For the Dodgers, James Paxton, who has struggled with command issues in the past three starts, only issued two walks today but was limited to just 4.2 innings. The lone run for the Nationals tonight came after a weak swinging bunt base hit.
However, left-handed veteran Patrick Corbin turned back the clock and pitched his best start of the young season, holding the Dodgers to just three hits over 5.1 innings.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts stated that his Slider was on point tonight compared to when the Dodgers saw Corbin. He was able to not only miss the bats but also make weak contact.
In a surprising move, Nationals Manager Dave Martinez opted to go to the bullpen in the 6th inning, which would come back to bite him as the Dodgers scored four runs over the final four innings.
The Dodgers would get production from two hitters who have had anemic starts to their season, Kiké Hernández and James Outman, who hit the tying and go-ahead runs.
However, the night’s biggest story was Shohei Ohtani demolishing a ball into the rightfield second deck, hitting a massive 450ft home run with an exit velo at 188mph.
The Dodgers bullpen held it down, getting valuable innings from Alex Vesia, Michael Grove, and Daniel Hudson. Things did get dicey in the ninth inning, as Evan Phillips struggled with command, but he strike out Nationals left fielder Jesse Winker, ending the Nationals night.
The Dodgers won game one of this three-game weekday series by a score of 4-1 and will be back at it again tomorrow with Landon Knack getting his second career start.
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