LOS ANGELES – The Nationals didn’t play poorly Friday night, but they needed to play just a little bit better if they wanted to beat the Dodgers. So that made the 6-5 loss in the series opener both encouraging and discouraging. They pretty much stood toe to toe with the defending champs but ultimately weren’t as good as the competition and lost a close ballgame in the process.
They’ll hope for better results tonight in game two of the weekend series. They’re facing a very different opposing starter from Clayton Kershaw in Dustin May, who of course is right-handed but also throws much harder than Kershaw. Batters are hitting a measly .081 against his four-seam fastball, which averages 95.1 mph. He also throws a ton of sweepers, against which opponents are batting only .219. The Nationals lineup needs to be smart tonight in pitch selection and swing decisions, to say the least.
Jake Irvin, meanwhile, needs to avoid his first-inning troubles (10.80 ERA) and find a way to start his night with a zero on the scoreboard before getting into a groove. Maybe the most extreme example of that issue came in April when Irvin gave up four runs before recording an out to these same Dodgers but then didn’t give up anything else the rest of his outing. Get through that first frame unscathed, and the right-hander could be in good position for a big night.
WASHINGTON NATIONALS at LOS ANGELES DODGERS
Where: Dodger Stadium
Gametime: 10:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Clear, 69 degrees, wind 5 mph out to center field
NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
LF James Wood
2B Luis García Jr.
1B Nathaniel Lowe
3B Brady House
DH Josh Bell
RF Daylen Lile
C Keibert Ruiz
CF Jacob Young
RHP Jake Irvin
DODGERS
DH Shohei Ohtani
SS Mookie Betts
1B Freddie Freeman
C Will Smith
RF Teoscar Hernández
3B Max Muncy
CF Andy Pages
LF Michael Conforto
2B Tommy Edman
RHP Dustin May