Two-for-two.
Max Muncy knocked in two runs in each game and the Los Angeles Dodgers swept a day-night doubleheader with the Washington Nationals on Saturday at Nationals Park.
After heavy rain postponed Friday night's opener with Washington, the two teams scheduled a doubleheader for a rainy and overcast day on Saturday.
Muncy was pivotal in both games, but he knocked in two runs in the first game as the Dodgers defeated the Nationals, 4-3.
In game one, Ross Stripling threw a gem allowing just one run on four hits with a career-high nine strikeouts in six innings.
"He went out there and executed the third time through the lineup," said Dodgers' manager Dave Roberts. "He's shown a lot. He has a lot of confidence in himself, as he should. He's taking advantage of this and it absolutely has not gone unnoticed. It's innings that we've needed from him."
Stripling's sixth inning almost never came to fruition after Roberts had Chase Utley as a pinch-hitter in the on-deck circle in the top of the sixth inning.
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However, Logan Forsythe grounded into an inning-ending double play and Roberts opted to send Stripling back to the mound for the bottom half of the inning.
Stripling (1-1) quickly struck out the side in the bottom of the sixth, recording a career-high nine strikeouts on a season-high 96 pitches.
"A tough lineup like this, a lot of times you're going to throw the kitchen sink at them from the start," said Stripling of his best start of the season. "I was able to kind of hold on to the change-up and use it in some big spots."
Joc Pederson led off the game with a 10-pitch at-bat that ended in a triple down the right field line. Two batters later, Pederson would score on a sacrifice fly by Yasmani Grandal and the Dodgers would lead, 1-0.
Bryce Harper brought home the only run of the game for the Nationals with an RBI single in the bottom of the third inning.
Harper wore clear prescription glasses to start the game, but ditched them by his second at-bat in the third inning after reportedly finding time to put his contact lenses in.
The Dodgers took the lead in the top of the fifth after Cody Bellinger grounded into a force out that scored Forsythe.
Muncy added two extra insurance runs with a double down the right field line in the top of the sixth and a sacrifice fly that scored Justin Turner in the eighth.
Tanner Roark (2-4) took the loss, allowing three runs on six hits with one walk and eight strikeouts in seven innings.
Kenley Jansen pitched a perfect ninth for his seventh save of the season.
Unfortunately, both games were overshadowed by serious injuries to key players from each team.
Howie Kendrick left the game in the ninth inning with a ruptured right Achilles tendon and was immediately placed on the disabled list following the first game.
*****
Muncy hit a home run off reigning Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer and Matt Kemp hit the game-winning two-run double in the top of the ninth and the Dodgers came from behind to stun the Nationals, 5-4, in game two.
The Dodgers bullpen recorded all 27 outs in the game after Dodgers' starter Rich Hill lasted just two pitches, and was removed from the game following an 0-2 count to leadoff hitter Trea Turner.
"The second to last pitch when I warmed up I felt something break open," Hill said of the blister. "I knew at some point I'd have to come out, but I made a few pitches and that was it."
Close-ups on the television broadcast showed Hill had a bloody middle finger on this left throwing hand and the Dodgers announced that he was pulled from the game because of the reoccurrence of the blister problems that have plagued his short Dodger career.
"We're searching and trying to figure out what we can do to alleviate this problem and put it to an end" said Hill after the game. "It's frustrating to put the bullpen and the team in this position."
By contrast, Scherzer made 121 pitches, allowing just two runs on five hits with three walks and 13 strikeouts in seven strong innings. He did not factor in the decision.
Muncy was responsible for both runs off Scherzer as he won the "Battle of the Maxes," with an RBI single in the first inning and a solo home run in the top of the fifth.
The Dodgers bullpen combined to no-hit the Nationals for the first five innings, but the wheels fell off in the sixth as Washington batted around for a four-run inning.
Turner led off the inning with a double and scored three batters later on a two-run double by Mark Reynolds that gave Washington the 2-1 lead.
After not one, but two pitching changes, Dodgers' reliever Daniel Hudson surrendered back-to-back RBI singles to Matt Adams and Scherzer to put the Nationals in front, 4-2.
Ordinarily, in a bullpen game against a three-time Cy Young Award winner with a two-run lead like Scherzer, many would consider it a death sentence, but the Dodgers got off the mat and rallied off the Washington bullpen.
First, Cody Bellinger hit a solo shot in the top of the eighth inning that cut the lead to one.
Then, in the top of the ninth, Austin Barnes and Logan Forsythe started the inning with back-to-back singles off Nationals' closer Sean Doolittle.
Dave Roberts sent right-hander Matt Kemp to the plate as a pinch-hitter against the left-handed reliever and the move worked as Kemp crushed a fastball down the left field line for the game-winning, two-run double.
"I was just looking for a fastball to drive," Kemp said of the pitch that handed Doolittle his first blown save of the season. "He left one right there, I put a good swing on it and got the job done. Austin Barnes and Logan got that inning started, and I just finished it off."
Kenley Jansen pitched another perfect ninth inning in the nightcap for the first two-save game in the same day for a Dodger pitcher since Jeff Shaw on Aug. 25, 2000.
After a devastating injury to Howie Kendrick in the first game, it was the Dodgers turn to get bit by the injury bug as it appeared that Rich Hill would head to the disabled list and miss significant time as he tries to heal that nagging blister.
"Obviously Rich is frustrated as we all are," said Roberts following the game. "I had no idea until after the second pitch when he was looking at his finger. It was clearly sliced and as bad as I've seen it since he's been here. I don't know what the timeline is, but we need to make sure it's right and can sustain itself before we can get him back."
Up Next:
The Dodgers will send LHP Alex Wood to the mound in the finale opposite RHP Stephen Strasburg for the Nationals. First pitch is scheduled for 10:35AM PST.
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