Turner’s late blast helps Dodgers beat Nationals 4-2
WASHINGTON — Justin Turner hit a two-out, threerun homer in the eighth inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Washington Nationals 4-2 on Friday night to open a three-game series.
After the Nationals had retired 22 straight batters, reliever Tony Sipp (1-2) walked Joc Pederson and then gave up a single to Alex Verdugo before exiting with two outs in the eighth. Kyle Barraclough, who was recalled earlier on Friday from Double-A, came in and immediately gave up the Turner blast to center field. Turner has 15 homers this season. Joe Kelly (4-3) retired Anthony Rendon to end the seventh while Kenley Jansen walked home a run before striking out Howie Kendrick with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth to earn his 25th save of the season.
Nationals starter Aníbal Sánchez retired the final 20 batters he faced. Sánchez struck out six, while allowing one run on three hits.
Dodgers starter Hyun-Jin Ryu allowed eight hits and one earned run in 6 2/3 innings.
The NL West leading Dodgers snapped a two-game losing streak, while the Nationals lost back-to-back games for the first time since June 22-23 against Atlanta.
The Dodgers took a 1-0 lead in the first on Cody Bellinger’s RBI single into shallow center field. It was the Dodgers’ third single of the inning but their last hit until the eighth. The Nationals tied it at 1-all in the seventh on Adam Eaton’s bases-loaded RBI single that scored Victor Robles. Pinch-hitter Gerardo Parra, who reached on a sacrifice bunt and fielding error by Turner, was thrown out at the plate by Alex Verdugo. The Nationals challenged the call and whether catcher Russell Martin had blocked the plate, but the call was upheld after video review.