Nats come up short to Dodgers in road trip opener (updated)

LOS ANGELES – The Nationals arrived here in good spirits late Thursday night, bolstered by a desperately needed, walk-off win to snap an 11-game losing streak. They didn’t know if that effort would carry over into the opener of a nine-game trip in which they’ll never leave Southern California, but if nothing else it did feel like a massive weight was lifted off their shoulders.

To beat the defending World Series champions, though, it requires more than positive vibes. It requires clean baseball, timely hitting and stars rising to the occasion. And during tonight’s 6-5 loss to the Dodgers, the Nats were lacking just a bit in all three aspects.

With a high-profile pitching matchup against Clayton Kershaw, MacKenzie Gore gave up a season-high six runs, all of them scoring with two outs. With multiple chances to deliver a damaging blow to Kershaw, the Nationals lineup went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position. And when they needed a perfect turn of a potential inning-ending double play, they were just a split-second slow, ultimately opening the floodgates for a three-run Dodgers rally that might well have been the difference in the game.

There’s no shame in losing a close ballgame to one of the best teams in baseball. But the Nats weren’t about to rattle off silver linings after their 12th loss in 13 games, especially when this one was quite winnable.

"It's a game of inches," manager Davey Martinez sighed as he wrapped up his postgame press conference.

Given the pitching matchup, it might have felt coming in like the first run scored would carry even more weight than it usually does for the Nationals. So imagine how encouraged they must have felt when Amed Rosario blasted Kershaw’s fourth pitch of the game to left for a quick 1-0 lead.

"You've got to attack from the beginning," Rosario said, via interpreter Mauricio Ortiz. "Because if you don't attack and are not aggressive, he's somebody that likes to expand in the zone. And that was my approach today."

There were opportunities to add on, though, and the Nats weren’t able to capitalize. They had two on with one out in the second, only to watch as Riley Adams grounded into an inning-ending double play. They had two on with one out in the third and the heart of the lineup coming to bat, only to watch as James Wood and Andrés Chaparro each struck out on sliders from Kershaw.

Ah, but there was still one more big blast to come off the future Hall of Famer. And it came from perhaps the least likely source in the Nationals lineup. Adams stepped to the plate to open the top of the fifth riding an 0-for-32 slump. His last hit? That came way back on May 6, when he took Ben Lively deep to right-center in the nightcap of a doubleheader against the Guardians.

Adams may not hit much, but he does make the most of what he does hit. And when he connected on Kershaw’s 2-2 slider, nobody in this massive stadium had any doubt where the ball was headed. It landed in the left field bleachers, 401 feet from the plate, and Adams finally got the opportunity to circle the bases, his 0-fer over. It was only his sixth hit of the season, but three of them have been home runs.

"Obviously, the offensive results haven't been there for a little bit," he said. "So it was good to finally get one and help the team in that situation. I just wish I could've been there to do more to get us a win."

Indeed, as uplifting as that shot was, it only trimmed the Nats’ deficit to 4-2. The Dodgers had already taken the lead against Gore, taking advantage of a couple of minor-yet-costly defensive mistakes in the bottom of the third.

Gore was about to escape a first-and-third, one-out jam when he got Mookie Betts to hit a chopper to the left side. Brady House caught the ball to his left, but needed just a split-second to get his feet in position to make the short throw to second base. Rosario then needed just a split-second to get a grip on the ball and fire a strike to first base. No problem, because Alfonso Marquez called Betts out on a bang-bang play. Except the Dodgers challenged the call, and as replay confirmed, the hustling Betts just narrowly beat the throw to first, which in turn allowed the runner from third to score and keep the inning alive.

"It's a play that I should've made, that you should make," Rosario said. "Those type of plays have to be executed."

Two batters later, Teoscar Hernández hit a sharp grounder up the middle, and though CJ Abrams made a stellar diving play to get to the ball, his desperation flip to second sailed past Rosario. And an astute Betts kept running until he scored the inning’s second run. Andy Pages’ subsequent single to center plated the third run and made the inning sting all the greater.

Gore would get beat a couple more times before his night ended, each time despite the fact he retired the first two batters of the inning. Miguel Rojas played a starring role, doubling in the fourth and scoring on Shohei Ohtani’s groundball single to right, then destroying Gore’s 100th and final pitch of the game for a two-run homer.

It was the first time this season Gore gave up more than four runs. He also matched a season high with four walks issued. On a night his team needed a peak performance, their ace labored through his worst of 2025.

"I didn't throw the ball well against a good team and they had some traffic," said Gore, whose record fell to 3-7 despite a 3.19 ERA and NL-leading 123 strikeouts. "I didn't make pitches when I needed to, to get out of innings. I wouldn't call it weird. I would just call it not very good."

And yet, this one wasn’t over yet. The Nationals battled in the top of the seventh against the L.A. relief corps, loading the bases with two outs against Alex Vesia. With the right-handed-hitting Chaparro due up, Dodgers bench coach Danny Lehmann (filling in tonight for the suspended Dave Roberts) summoned righty Kirby Yates from his bullpen. Martinez countered with the left-handed-hitting Luis García Jr. and won that battle when García ripped a two-run double to right.

The platoon advantage also favored the Nats’ next batter, Nathaniel Lowe, but the veteran first baseman was robbed of a game-tying hit when Michael Conforto laid out to make a diving catch of his sinking liner to left, keeping the Dodgers’ lead at 6-4.

"I was sitting there going: 'Please hit the grass,'" Martinez lamented. "Conforto made a hell of a play."

Abrams would make it 6-5 with a ninth-inning homer off closer Tanner Scott. But the Nationals couldn't find a way to get one more run across on a night when they battled but needed just a little bit more to win.

"We believe in the guys in our clubhouse, and we believe in this team," Adams said. "We know we can compete with anybody. I think everyone around here believes that."