Seven in the sixth
Dodgers’ big inning enough to put Nats on the ropes
The Los Angeles Dodgers erupted for seven runs in the sixth inning and never looked back, beating the host Washington Nationals 10-4 in Washington, D.C., on Sunday night to take a 2-1 National League Division Series lead.
The outburst, which began with the Dodgers trailing 2-1, included two-run doubles from Russell Martin and Enrique Hernandez, and a three-run home run from Justin Turner. Martin added a two-run homer in the ninth to finish 2-for-4 with four RBIs.
Juan Soto homered for Washington, which will turn to veteran right-hander Max Scherzer in a win-or-gohome contest at home Monday in Game 4. The Dodgers will go with 39-year-old lefty Rich Hill.
As for Sunday, Los Angeles right-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu (1-0) allowed two runs on four hits in five innings. He walked two and fanned three.
Nationals left-hander Patrick Corbin (0-2) took the loss in relief after surrendering six runs and recording only two outs. He followed starter Anibal Sanchez, who allowed only one run on four hits in five innings while striking out nine and walking two.
The Nationals opened the scoring on Soto’s two-run blast in the first. The 20-yearold belted a high fastball 408 feet to centre field for his first career postseason homer.
In the fifth, the Dodgers trimmed the deficit to 2-1. Max Muncy had two strikes against him when he ripped a 398-foot shot to right-centre field for his second homer in as many games.
Martin gave the Dodgers a 3-2 lead when he drilled a two-out, two-run double off Corbin in the sixth. The hit to left-centre field drove in Cody Bellinger and David Freese, both of whom had singled.
The inning quickly got away from Corbin, who walked Chris Taylor before giving up a two-run double to Hernandez that increased the Dodgers’ lead to 5-2. That spelled the end of the night for Corbin in his first relief appearance since 2017.
Nationals manager Davey Martinez brought in righthander Wander Suero to face Turner with two on and two out.
Turner promptly crushed a three-run homer over the wall in left-centre field to make it 8-2.
A wild pitch by Dodgers right-hander Joe Kelly with the bases loaded allowed Washington to score a run in the bottom of the sixth. Two batters later, a sacrifice fly by Asdrubal Cabrera cut the deficit to 8-4.
Martin capped off his big night with a two-run homer in the ninth.