Dodgers make the most of second chance

WASHINGTON » As George W. Bush once malapropped — fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice ... won't get fooled again.

Last week at Dodger Stadium, right-hander Jake Irvin held the Dodgers scoreless for six innings in a Washington Nationals victory. Getting a second look at Irvin on Wednesday night at Nationals Park, the Dodgers roughed him up on their way to collecting 20 hits (including eight doubles) in an 11-2 rout of the Nationals.

The Dodgers got offense from top (Mookie Betts had four hits and Shohei Ohtani had three doubles) to bottom (Andy Pages had three hits, including a home run) in their third consecutive win. But Gavin Lux might have needed his share more than anyone. He had two hits — his first multi-hit game since March 30 — and drove in two runs (doubling his season total of RBIs).

“Obviously we all want to perform and put up good numbers and help the team win. But realistically, you got to take a process-oriented approach when you miss a year and a half full of at-bats,” said Lux, who missed all of the 2023 season following a major knee injury during a spring game. “So it's tough, but you've just got to keep grinding. You have no other option anyways. So just keep putting in the work in the cage and hopefully it will eventually translate. That's all you can really control.”

THE SCORE DODGERS 11, NATIONALS 2 Dodgers at Nationals, today, 1:05 p.m., SNLA Angels: