Stripling silences Harper, Nats in Dodgers’ 4-1 win
WASHINGTON (AP) — Ross Stripling struck out a career-high nine in six innings, Max Muncy drove in two runs and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Washington Nationals 4-1 in the opener of a day-night doubleheader on Saturday.
The Nationals suffered a potentially significant injury when Howie Kendrick went to the ground after catching Muncy’s sacrifice fly to deep left 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.
Stripling (1-1) struck out the side in the first inning and then fanned the final five batters he faced, getting Bryce Harper during each of those stretches, 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.
Joc Pederson and Logan Forsythe had two hits apiece for Los Angeles, which won its second straight after losing nine of its previous 10.
The Nationals lost for the first time since May 9. Washington had not played a full game since Sunday night in Arizona because of rain that has lingered over the Mid-Atlantic. One game against the Yankees was suspended in the sixth inning and another was postponed, and Friday’s game against Los Angeles also was washed out.
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.
Harper wore eyeglasses with clear plastic frames during his first at-bat, when he struck out swinging. He ditched the specs his second time up and drove in the Nationals’ only run with a single to center.
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.
Muncy, who struck out looking his first two at-bats, drove in the Dodgers’ third run with a double in the sixth. His deep flyball to left in the eighth scored Justin Turner.
A PROPER DEBUT
Catcher Spencer Kieboom made his season debut and first major league start for Washington. He got his first career hit on the first pitch he saw, a line-drive single to left off Stripling in the third. Kieboom, a seven-year minor league veteran, saw his only previous big league action in the final game of the 2016 regular season, when he entered as a pinch-hitter, walked and scored in his only plate appearance.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Nationals: OF Rafael Bautista, who appeared in nine games for Washington this season, suffered a serious left knee injury during a collision in the outfield while playing for Triple-A Syracuse on Wednesday night, manager Dave Martinez said. Bautista will have surgery and miss the rest of the season . ... IF Adrian Sanchez was brought up from Syracuse to be the 26th man for the second game.
Dodgers: LHP Tony Cingriani (left shoulder inflammation) was activated from the 10-day disabled list, and LHP Adam Liberatore was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City . ... Los Angeles has yet to decide on the corresponding move once RHP Erik Goeddel joins the team. The Dodgers claimed Goeddel off waivers from the Mariners on Friday. He was expected to be in Washington this weekend . ... RHP Yimi Garcia was the 26th man for the second game.
UP NEXT
Max Scherzer (7-1, 1.69 ERA) starts the nightcap for Washington against the Dodgers’ Rich Hill (1-2, 6.20). Scherzer hasn’t lost since April 4, while Hill hasn’t won since April 1 and left his last start with a blister on his left middle finger, a recurring problem for the left-hander that has already led to two stints on the disabled list this season.