Dodgers go deep to beat Nationals THE SCORE

LOS ANGELES >> A deep lineup was not necessarily the Dodgers’ strong suit when the month of May began. Will Smith and J.D. Martinez had spent much of April battling injuries. A slow start by Max Muncy further hampered the middle of the lineup.

Flash forward to Tuesday night. After beating the Washington Nationals, 9-3, before an announced crowd of 46,571 at Dodger Stadium, the Dodgers have essentially transformed their identity in the span of a month.

Now, with injuries to Julio Urías and Dustin May robbing the team of two of its best pitchers, the lineup appears to be picking up the slack. Entering the final day of May, the Dodgers are averaging 6.2 runs per game this month — a big step up from their 5.0 runs per game on the final day of April.

Martinez and Freddie Freeman hit home runs to extend their long hitting

DODGERS 9, NATIONALS 3

Up next: Nationals at Dodgers, today, 1:10p.m., SNLA

streaks — 19 games for Freeman, 14 for Martinez — in support of starter Tony Gonsolin. Jason Heyward also homered in a game the Dodgers never trailed.

Freeman had four of the Dodgers’ 12 hits as a team. Heyward (2 for 2), Muncy (2 for 5) and Mookie Betts (2 for 5) made the top of the lineup especially formidable on a night off for Smith.

Gonsolin held Washington to one run over six efficient innings, despite allowing plenty of hard contact. The Nationals sent four balls to the warning track in center field that landed in James Outman’s glove for an out. They hit eight balls at 100 mph or harder. They didn’t strike out until the fifth inning.

Thanks to some slick plays in the field and a forgiving marine layer above the Dodger Stadium outfield, Gonsolin allowed only three hits — all in the third inning. That led to the lone run he allowed, when Gonsolin also hit Jeimer Candelario with a slider to load the bases ahead of an RBI single by Joey Meneses.

Gonsolin (3-1) lowered his ERA to 1.77. The righthander had thrown more than 70 pitches in all but one of his first six starts this season, but manager Dave Roberts elected to bring in left-hander Alex Vesia for the seventh inning.

Vesia’s first major league inning since May 2 (and his first appearance since he threw two pitches in a Triple-A game on Saturday) was a disaster. He allowed a home run to Keibert Ruiz on his first pitch. A double by Lane Thomas, followed by an RBI single by Luis Garcia, narrowed the Dodgers’ lead to 4-3.

Vesia walked Jeimer Candelario before Roberts summoned Evan Phillips from the bullpen to extinguish the fire. Phillips got Candelario to ground out to end the inning, then pitched a scoreless eighth as the Dodgers pulled away.