Max Muncy hit a grand slam in the sixth and a three-run homer in the seventh to help the Los Angeles Dodgers rally for a 13-7 win against the visiting Washington Nationals in the rubber game of their three-game series on Sunday afternoon.
Shohei Ohtani had a three-run triple in the seventh, a two-run homer in the eighth and also made his second start on the mound since returning from a nearly two-year absence because of elbow surgery. He threw a scoreless first inning with two strikeouts.
Nathaniel Lowe homered for the third time in the last two games for the Nationals, who had won two of three following an 11-game losing streak.
Washington starter Michael Soroka took a no-hitter into the fifth inning before getting into trouble in the sixth. He allowed three runs and two hits in 5 1/3 innings, striking out a career-high 10 and walking two.
Dalton Rushing led off the sixth with a ground-rule double down the left-field line and Ohtani walked on four pitches. Freddie Freeman was hit by an 0-2 pitch with one out to load the bases, ending the day for Soroka.
Jose Ferrer (2-3) came in to face Muncy and he lifted an opposite-field homer over the left field fence to give the Dodgers a 4-3 lead.
The Dodgers loaded the bases again in the seventh with no outs before Ohtani grounded the ball just inside the first base line for a bases-clearing triple and a 7-3 lead.
Mookie Betts then drove in Ohtani with a single to make it 8-3.
The inning continued with Muncy coming to the plate with two on and still nobody out and he crushed a three-run homer for an 11-3 lead.
Rushing singled with one out in the eighth and scored his third run of the game on Ohtani’s home run to make it 13-3.
The Dodgers put utility player Enrique Hernandez on the mound in the ninth inning and the Nationals pushed across two runs against him before needing Alex Vesia to get the final two outs after allowing two inherited runners to score.
Ben Casparius (6-1) allowed three runs and five hits in five innings of relief for Los Angeles.
James Wood walked and Luis Garcia Jr. singled to center with two outs in the third for Washington. Lowe then lifted a high fly to center that hit the top of the wall just out of the reach of leaping center fielder Hyeseong Kim, hit a fan’s hand and came back on the field.
Lowe initially stopped on second with a two-run double, but after review of the play, the umpiring crew determined the ball would have continued over the fence if it didn’t make contact with the fan’s hand, resulting in a three-run homer and an early 3-0 lead.
–Field Level Media
