MacKenzie Gore threw six quality innings, James Wood hit a two-run home run and the Washington Nationals earned a 6-4 win over the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday.
Gore (1-1) allowed two runs on five hits, while striking out seven and walking one, as the Nationals won their third in a row in the opener of a three-game series.
Dustin May (0-1) allowed three runs (one earned) on three hits over six innings for the Dodgers. He allowed three walks and struck out one for Los Angeles, which has dropped three of four after an 8-0 start.
Shohei Ohtani went 3-for-4 with a two-run homer and was a double shy of hitting for the cycle.
After Josh Bell and Paul DeJong reached to begin the bottom of the second, Dylan Crews’ RBI single got Washington on the board first. Crews then scored the second Nationals run on second baseman Miguel Rojas’ fielding error.
In the third, Chris Taylor’s two-out single was followed by Ohtani’s fourth homer of the season — a 378-foot shot to right field that knotted the score at 2.
Washington regained the lead in the home half of the third, when Nathaniel Lowe’s single scored Luis Garcia Jr.
Gore was relieved after 100 pitches by Eduardo Salazar, who worked a perfect seventh.
Washington’s Amed Rosario led off the seventh with a single off Anthony Banda before Wood launched his second home run of the season two batters later, extending Washington’s lead to 5-2. After Alex Call’s double, Matt Sauer relieved Banda.
Garcia then singled, but Call was thrown out at home by center fielder Tommy Edman. Keibert Ruiz slapped a two-out RBI double to push the margin to 6-2.
With Lucas Sims pitching for Washington in the eighth, Michael Conforto led off with a walk and eventually scored on Mookie Betts’ one-out single. Edman then singled, chasing Sims from the game for Kyle Finnegan.
Los Angeles pulled closer two batters later, when Will Smith’s single cut the Dodgers’ deficit to 6-4.
Finnegan remained in for the ninth, allowing Max Muncy’s leadoff double. With two outs, Ohtani walked to bring the go-ahead run to the plate. Finnegan got Betts to ground out, securing his fourth save of the season.
–Field Level Media
