LOS ANGELES, CA — The Washington Nationals arrived to Dodger Stadium Friday night with a record of 31-44, fourth in the NL East, with the plan to start their ace, MacKenzie Gore, 3-6, 2.89 ERA. Gore was the Padres’ number-one pick in the first round of the 2017 draft, number three overall, and was a big part of the deal when San Diego traded him for Juan Soto in 2022.
Along with Gore in that deal was a 19-year-old, 6’7″ outfielder named James Wood. Today, this now 22-year-old leads the Nats with a .284 average, 19 doubles, 20 home runs, and 56 RBI.
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The Dodgers opted to start Clayton Kershaw, 2-0, 3.25 ERA. The future Hall of Fame pitcher was outstanding in his last start against the Giants, pitching seven solid shutout innings with one walk and five strikeouts. Before Friday’s outing, he needed twelve more to reach 3000 K’s. The Nationals wasted no time getting on the scoreboard as their second hitter, Amed Rosario, Santo Domingo Centro, Dominican Republic, hit the first pitch he saw from Kershaw, a 396-foot shot into the left-field pavilion for a 1-0 Nats lead.
The Dodgers came back with three runs in the third inning, sending eight players to the plate. Fan favorite Kiké Hernández, San Juan, Puerto Rico, led off with a double.
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Andy Pages, Havana, Cuba, drove in his fifty-second run with a single, giving the Dodgers a 3-1 lead. In the next inning, Miguel Rojas, Los Teques, Venezuela, led off with a double and scored on a single by Shohei Ohtani.
Kershaw would surrender his second home run of the evening in the top of the fourth to Washington’s Riley Adams, a 401-foot line drive into the left-field pavilion, making it a 4-2 game. Kershaw left with a line of five innings pitched, five hits, two runs, two walks, four strikeouts, and two home runs. His four strikeouts gives him a total of 2992 in his quest for 3000.
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Gore would leave after the game after 5.2 innings when he gave up a 396-foot two-run home run into the left-field pavilion by Rojas, making it a 6-2 game after six innings. But the Nats would not quit, adding two runs in the seventh inning and a 394-foot home run to center-field off the bat of CJ Abrams in the top of the ninth to bring them within one.
But that’s how it would end. A 6-5 seesaw game to begin this three-game weekend series in LA.
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