Stripling silences Harper, Nationals in Dodgers' win

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ross Stripling only got to pitch the sixth inning against the Nationals because Logan Forsythe grounded out into a double play ahead of him, preventing manager Dave Roberts from pinch-hitting for the former reliever.

It worked out perfectly for Stripling and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Stripling struck out the side in the sixth to end his day by fanning five straight, Max Muncy drove in two runs and the Dodgers cruised to a 4-1 victory over Washington in the opener of a day-night doubleheader on Saturday.

"He went out there and executed the third time through (the lineup), which was great," Roberts said. "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."

The Nationals were less concerned with having lost the game — their first loss since May 9, thanks in part to a weird, waterlogged week in which two games were postponed and one suspended — than about a potentially significant injury to Howie Kendrick.

The veteran left fielder went to the ground after catching a sacrifice fly by Muncy in the eighth. Kendrick, who's hitting a team-leading .303, put no weight on his right leg and was taken off the field on a cart. Manager Dave Martinez called it a lower right leg injury and said Kendrick would have an MRI.

"It's a huge loss. Not something you want to see, especially when we him. I'm super bummed out, but we'll see what it is and see where we go from there," Bryce Harper said. "He's one of the best teammates I've ever played with."

Stripling (1-2) struck out the side in the first and fanned a career-high nine on the day, including Harper twice, in the longest and best of his four starts this season. He allowed one run on four hits, walking none.

Stripling made 11 relief appearances, allowing one run in 15 1/3 innings, before moving into the Dodgers' rotation. He said he was able to introduce different pitches as the game progressed.

"A tough lineup like this, a lot of times you're going to throw the kitchen sink at them from the start. Just not the way it worked out today," Stripling said. "Was able to kind of hold on to the change-up and use it in some big spots."

Forsythe and Joc Pederson had two hits apiece for Los Angeles, which won its second straight after losing nine of its previous 10.

Pederson led off the game with a triple off Tanner Roark (2-4) and scored on a sacrifice fly by Yasmani Grandal. Forsythe doubled in the second, breaking an 0-for-12 skid that stretched to April 14 and included a 26-game stint on the disabled list with right shoulder inflammation. He singled in the fifth and scored on a grounder by Cody Bellinger.

Roark allowed three runs on six hits in seven innings. He walked one and struck out eight.

J.T. Chargois worked the seventh, Josh Fields pitched the eighth and Kenley Jansen threw a perfect ninth for his seventh save in nine opportunities.

GIANTS 9, ROCKIES 4.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Brandon Crawford got three more hits and drove in four runs as the San Francisco Giants beat the Colorado Rockies 9-4 on Saturday to end a threegame skid.

Crawford reached on a bloop single in the second inning, had a two-run double in the third and homered in the sixth following Evan Longoria's leadoff single. The home run off reliever Chris Rusin was the fourth this season for Crawford and helped raised his batting average to .449 (31 for 69) in May.

The Giants had been limited to three runs or fewer in eight of their previous 12 games and had lost each of those eight. They broke out in a big way as Andrew McCutchen doubled twice, singled and added two RBIs on a day when every San Francisco starter had at least one hit. Buster Posey, Brandon Belt, Miguel Gomez and Longoria each had two.

Chris Stratton (5-3) scuffled through another start but went five innings, allowing four runs and eight hits. Stratton pitched with runners on base every inning and committed an error in the second, but minimized the damage by getting Colorado to ground into a pair of double plays.

Charlie Blackmon had two hits and scored twice for the Rockies. Colorado lost for only the second time in 10 road games this month.

Jon Gray (4-6) allowed five runs on nine hits in 3 2/3 innings.

PHILLIES 7, CARDINALS 6.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Odubel Herrera homered and Jorge Alfaro drove in the go-ahead run to propel the Philadelphia Phillies to a 7-6 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday.

Alfaro was scratched with right knee soreness after originally being in the lineup. He was removed from Friday night's game with soreness in the knee. Alfaro pinch hit for Andrew Knapp in the eighth inning and knocked a single up the middle to drive in Scott Kingery.

Greg Holland (0-2) surrendered two runs while getting just two outs.

Herrera extended his streak of reaching base to 45 consecutive games with his third inning home run.

Tommy Hunter (1-0) was initially in line for the loss after allowing an RBI double to Matt Carpenter in the seventh inning. Carpenter drove in Tommy Pham with a double off Hunter to give the Cardinals a 6-5 lead in the seventh inning.

Seranthony Dominguez pitched two perfect innings for his first career save.

Tyler O'Neill tied the game 5-5 when he hit his first career home run off Luis Garcia in the sixth inning.

Zach Eflin surrendered four runs on three hits in 4 2/3 innings before departing after a 44-minute rain delay.

John Gant allowed five runs on four hits in 4 1/3 innings. He struck out seven and walked two.