Steve Webb
Game 21, 4/17/2024: Dodgers 0, Nationals 2
CHAVEZ RAVINE, CA — These midweek day games are always a little funky. Nobody really wants to be there, and today, the Dodgers’ offense decided to just sleep in. Which is a pity. Because after a bit of a rocky first inning, rookie hurler Landon Knack pitched quite well in his debut in the Show. But the Dodgers were unable to solve Nationals pitching on Wednesday, and the team was shut out for the first time this year. The 2-0 loss to Washington marks the second straight series loss at home for the increasingly lethargic Dodgers.
If you showed up for the first inning, you saw all the scoring you were going to see in this one. Rookie Knack was showing a bit of nerves and struggled to land his pitches early for strikes. Pesky C.J. Abrams led off the game with a solo home run on the second pitch of the ball game. Not ideal. Then after a couple of singles, Joey Meneses plated a second run with a sacrifice fly to center.
And that was basically it. Knack gave up only one more hit for the rest of his outing and left the game after five very respectable innings. His line on his first big league start on 75 pitches: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K. The kid has nothing to hang his head about.
The offense had its chances in this one, but the same old troubling trend continued: the inabiltiy to get crucial hits with runners in scoring position. This time, the Dodgers wen 0-for-7 in that stat, having scoring chances in multiple innings throughout the game. It needs to be said, however, that the Nats were really flashing the leather in this one, and they saved at least a run or two thanks to some fine glove work in the field.
Shohei Ohtani had a couple of hits, and James Outman and Max Muncy both hit doubles, but nobody got a knock when a knock was needed and baserunners just languished on the paths. Boo!
So, after a 7-3 start, the Dodgers are now just 12-9, having dropped six of the last ten games. Not ideal. They will try to salvage something out of this disappointing homestand with one last series, a three-gamer with the Mets before they hit the road to finish out the month. Yoshinobu Yamamoto will be on the bump against the Mets on Friday night, going up against the recently shorn Sean Manaea, who is having a pretty decent start for New York before getting rocked in his last start against the newly powerful Royals. Let’s see which Manaea shows up on Friday. Heck, let’s see which Dodgers shows up on Friday. First pitch is the usual 7:10.
Have you subscribed to the Bleed Los Podcast YouTube channel? Be sure to ring the notification bell to watch player interviews, participate in shows & promotions, and stay up to date on all Dodgers news and rumors!
