ROB TRINGALI/MLB PHOTOS
The Los Angeles Dodgers jumped out to an early 1-0 series lead after holding on to defeat the Washington Nationals 4-3, in Game 1 of their best of five game series.
Both clubs sent their Aces to the mound, but Dodgers Corey Seager, who batted second in the line-up, quickly made his impact to the game when he launched the first pitch he saw from Max Scherzer, sending it over the center field fence to give LA an early 1-0 lead in the first inning. Scherzer then hit Justin Turner with a pitch, but was able to induce a ground ball off the bat of Adrian Gonzalez, as he hit into an inning ending double play.
As for the Dodgers Clayton Kershaw, his first inning was epic as he struck out the side on 17 pitches.
In the second inning, Scherzer settled down and retired the Dodgers in order striking out two batters. In the bottom half of the frame, Daniel Murphy, who tore up pitching in the 2015 postseason with the New York Mets, picked up where he left off and singled in his first postseason at bat with the Nats.
Next batter Anthony Rendon hit a ground ball to Seager forcing Murphy out at second. After Ryan Zimmerman singled moving Rendon to scoring position, Kershaw was able to work around fielding error and keep the Nats off the board.
In the top of the third, the Dodgers continued their onslaught against Scherzer as they scored three runs on an RBI single from Chase Utley and a two run shot off the bat of Justin Turner putting the LA up 4-0.
The Nats pulled within two runs in the bottom of the third when Rendon singled scoring Bryce Harper and Jasyon Werth.
After a scoreless top of the fourth, the Nats added another run on a sac-fly from Trea Turner to make the score 4-3, but that is the closest the Nationals would get as Kershaw along with the Dodgers bullpen shut down Washington’s offense.
The Nats bullpen also did their job keeping the Dodgers from pulling further away, but the offsense was stifled and couldn’t recover, as the Dodgers earned an early advantage in the series.
Starters Game Stats
Max Scherzer – (L, 0-1) – 6 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 0 BB, 5 K, 2 HR
Clayton Kershaw (W, 1-0) – 5 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 7 K, 0 HR
Top Performers
Dodgers
Corey Seager – 1 for 4, 2 R, HR, RBI
Justin Turner – 2 for 3, R, HR, 2 RBI
Yasmani Grandal – 2 for 4
Kenley Jansen (S, 1) – 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K
Nationals
Anthony Rendon – 2 for 4, 2 RBI
Ryan Zimmerman – 2 for 4
Mark Melancon – 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 BB, 3 K
What’s Next
The Dodgers (1-0) and Nationals (0-1) face off in Game 2 on Saturday afternoon with first pitch scheduled for 4:00 PM ET at Nationals Park.
Starters
Dodgers Rich Hill (12-5, 2.12 ERA) against Nationals Tanner Roark (16-10, 2.83 ERA)
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