Steve Webb
WASHINGTON, DC — The Dodgers are the highest scoring team in baseball. But not today. The Dodgers have the highest batting average with runners in scoring position. But not today. The Dodgers have been smacking the ball around Nationals Park this week. But not today. Instead, the high-flying Dodgers had a bit of dud at the plate in this one, wasting a very good start from Julio Urias. They drop the series finale to the Nationals 1-0, the first time in three years they’ve lost by that score.
Urias efficient, but undone by a single run in the sixth
The best performance in this game by far was turned in by Julio Urias, and he’s the only guy that’s going to wear this L on his permanent record. He had a no-hitter through the first four innings, and came up big to get out of a jam in the sixth when the Nats got a lead-off double from Nelson Cruz. Urias got a couple of groundouts and K to strand Cruz at third and maintain a 0-0 tie.
However, his luck ran out in the sixth. And it started with a leadoff walk to Victor Robles (hey kids, don’t walk the leadoff guy). Alcides Escobar reached when Urias couldn’t find the handle on his bunt to the left side of the infield, and suddenly Julio was in a big-time jam. He got Cesar Hernandez into an 0-2 count but lost him on a changeup that Hernandez was able to poke into left field for a run scoring single. And that was all the Nats needed to make Urias a loser in this one.
Dodgers get men on, but not in
Meanwhile, the Dodgers spend the whole afternoon searching for that big hit that never came. They got a few decent hits off Nats’ starter Erick Fedde, but nothing much came of any of them. They had men on base in every inning but the sixth, but just couldn’t get a clutch hit to save their mother in this one. In fact, until a Gavin Lux single in the ninth, they had no hits at all with runners on base the entire game. Which is not a recipe for success.
They threatened a couple of times with walks and a couple of doubles, but just lacked the base knock that would but a run on the board. Their biggest chance came in the final inning when Max Muncy walked with one out and Gavin Lux singled him to second. After a Cody Bellinger flyout to center, Dave Roberts went to Will Smith off the bench for a pinch hitting opportunity. Smith worked the count full from Nats closer Tanner Rainey, and he got a pretty good pitch to hit, a four-seamer right over the heart of the plate. Smitty gave the ball a ride to the opposite field, but in the end it only backed up Juan Soto to the wall, where the Nats’ right fielder made the catch with his back to the scoreboard. Game over. Ugh.
On to Arizona
So the East Coast swing of this road trip ends with two series wins and a 4-2 record, but Dodger fans have to be feeling there was probably another win to be had in these games. Still in first place in the NL West with a record of 29-14, just ahead of the Padres in the division. They lock horns once again with the Arizona Diamondbacks in another four-game series starting tomorrow. After losing a series to the D-backs in Phoenix, and sweeping the Snakes at home, the Dodgers look to have a good holiday weekend and return home still in first place. No travel day (thanks lockout!), so the series gets underway on Thursday night at 6:40 PDT. Looks like Mitch White will be getting his second start of the season.
Cans of Corn…
- Julio Urias and Juan Soto had a face off for the ages in the sixth inning, one that clearly both player enjoyed immensely. Urias was the winner, locking up Soto with a curveball that dropped in for strike three.
- It was a planned off-day for Mookie Betts today, although he did appear in the game, pinch-hitting in the eighth inning. He got jobbed by the ump on a high strike call.
- Because of Betts’ day off, and Cody Bellinger being a little under the weather, the Dodgers’ outfield today featured both Gavin Lux and Hanser Alberto at the corners, which is not ideal.
- The game was called on TV by Daron Sutton (Don’s kid). I believe it was the first time Sutton, a former Angels play-by-play guy, has called a Dodger game.
- Yency Almonte showed some grit getting out of a jam in the eighth.
- Without Betts, it felt a bit like a B-squad game today.
