At risk of being swept for the first time this season, the Dodgers came out on fire, scoring four runs before an out was even recorded. However, they just went cold for a long stretch after and the pitching continued to struggle as the Nationals then surged ahead. Thankfully, the bats came alive against the Nats pen just enough, and the Dodgers pen came up big again in a 6-5 victory to salvage something from the series.
======
In a rare occurrence this season, the Dodgers jumped all over Nationals starter Jake Irvin. Shohei Ohtani started the 1st with a single, Mookie Betts drew a walk, and Tommy Edman tripled down the line in right for a 2-0 lead.
Clutch, Tommy! pic.twitter.com/PSjoi66vj9
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 9, 2025
Teoscar Hernandez followed by smashing his fifth homer of the year to make it 4-0 before an out was recorded, even though Irvin did retire the next three.
Mr. Seeds! pic.twitter.com/XCHKLMbRWd
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 9, 2025
Unfortunately, Landon Knack started the game just as bad. CJ Abrams began the nightmare by bombing a homer, which at least led to a humorous reaction from Knack.
alien moon LAnding pic.twitter.com/7o4Ez8DjGn
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) April 9, 2025
?
[image or embed]
— Chad Moriyama (@chadmoriyama.bsky.social) April 9, 2025 at 10:23 AM
A walk, single, and walk followed to load the bases up, and a groundout and sacrifice fly each plated runs to cut the lead to 4-3. He was on the verge of getting out of it, but walked another batter to put a pair on again, and it took a great Mookie play from deep short to get him out of the inning.
Mookie Betts with a great play from deep short to bail Landon Knack out of the inning and preserve a lead. pic.twitter.com/8MiMGmn25w
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) April 9, 2025
So … that was a hell of a start, huh?
Things calmed down a bit after that, but it was Knack who was first to relent again. After a 1-2-3 frame with two strikeouts in the 2nd, he got an out to start the 3rd but then surrendered a walk, single, and Luis Garcia Jr. double to plate the tying run and put a pair in scoring position.
That was it for Knack, as Jack Dreyer entered and got a sacrifice fly to give the Nats a 5-4 lead, then got the final out to minimize the damage. Dreyer continued in the 4th and issued a walk but got a scoreless frame.
Anthony Banda was next out in the 5th, and he rebounded from a rough time last appearance with a clean frame. Kirby Yates took over in the 6th and struck out two in a 12-pitch 1-2-3 inning.
——
As all this was happening, the Dodger bats were just completely ineffective against Irvin after the first four batters. Despite almost getting knocked out, Irvin made it through six innings, allowing just two walks and a single. The Dodgers managed just one runner in scoring position against him after the 2nd.
Finally against the Nats pen, the Dodgers were able to get to Eduardo Salazar via Andy Pages‘ second homer of the series and season, tying things up at 5-5.
Andy ties it up! pic.twitter.com/hEqya45BSW
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 9, 2025
Shohei followed with an infield single, then stole second to put him in scoring position with just one down. He got to third on a groundout, Edman walked to corner things, and Teoscar came up with a big two-out bloop single to put the Dodgers ahead 6-5.
¿Batazo oportuno? Fue de Teoscar seguro. pic.twitter.com/SQI2NW1fxp
— Los Dodgers (@LosDodgers) April 9, 2025
That led to Jorge Lopez entering and ending the rally, who also got a 1-2-3 inning in the 8th. Lucas Sims allowed a single and hit a batter in the 9th, but closed the book on the Dodgers without damage.
——
Now trying to protect a lead, it was Tanner Scott for the Dodgers in the 7th, and he looked sharp with two strikeouts in a clean frame. Alex Vesia took over in the 8th, and he ended up facing the minimum despite a walk thanks to a pick-off to end his outing.
And so, it was Blake Treinen for the save in the 9th, who got the first out but then another bloop single fell between three defenders and things looked like they’d repeat from last time.
Like live I thought Edman was settling under it, honestly. I dunno.
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) April 9, 2025
After a walk, Enrique made an outstanding diving play to get the second out, which eventually led to Treinen getting the final out for the save.
Enrique makes a diving stop for the out. Wow. pic.twitter.com/uaThKs1m5b
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) April 9, 2025
Phew.
======
10-4, which I should point out is a 116-win pace. They aren’t even really clicking yet, so that’s probably quite good.
Well, that road trip is over at least. The Dodgers now have a day off tomorrow and travel home to start a three-game series against the Cubs. It’ll be Yoshinobu Yamamoto against Matthew Boyd at 4:10 PM HT/7:10 PM PT/10:10 PM ET.
