Nationals 6, Dodgers 4: Manufacturing runs is great until you need a bunch of them

Chad Moriyama 04/15/2024 Game Recaps Leave A Comment

After dropping two of their last three series, the Dodgers surely hoped to get back to their winning ways with a series at home against the Nationals, but things don’t always work out the way you plan. After a back-and-forth start early, it was the Nationals who landed the big blow against the Dodgers ace, and that held up in a 6-3 loss. That makes it four losses in their last five games.

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Coming off a start against the Twins where he looked near invincible, Tyler Glasnow had a much different experience tonight against Nationals, where he had to battle from the start. CJ Abrams doubled off his first pitch, and a pair of groundouts put him on third, where he scored on a wild pitch before Glasnow was able to get out of trouble. 1-0 to the Nats.

The Dodgers were able to get off a nice start of their own again Mitchell Parker, as a one-out Shohei Ohtani single was followed by a Freddie Freeman single that cornered the runners, and the game was tied at 1-1 after a Will Smith sacrifice fly.

Following Glasnow working around a walk and a double with one out in the 2nd, the Dodgers took the lead. A Max Muncy double started their half of the frame, and after he was barely safe at third on a fly out, a Chris Taylor (!!!) sacrifice fly made it 2-1. Just manufacturing those runs tonight early on.

That lasted about a millisecond, as Abrams led the 3rd off with a homer on a 3-2 pitch to tie the game up. A double followed, and then another one from Joey Gallo scored the go-ahead run to make it 2-3.

Parker responded with the game’s first clean frame in the bottom of the inning, and Glasnow got one of his own in the 4th. After the Dodgers got just an infield single in their half of the 4th, Glasnow allowed a one-out single and two-out walk in the 5th, then surrendered a three-run homer to Luis Garcia Jr. to make it 2-6 and really put the team in a hole.

Glasnow didn’t look terrible or anything, the Nats just knocked him around a bit: 5 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 2 BB, 5 K, 94 Pitches.

That mess was followed by a six-pitch inning for Parker in the bottom of the 5th, but I suppose because it was his debut, he was done after just 81 pitches.

After he was relieved, Ohtani reached on a catcher’s interference, stole second, and advanced to third on a wild pitch, later scoring on a Smith groundout to make it 3-6. Manufacturing runs is great, but sometimes you need a real rally.

In relief for the Dodgers, it was Nick Ramirez getting a pair of groundouts and a pop out for a clean 6th. Then he came back out for the 7th and got an eight-pitch inning that included a strikeout to help the Dodgers stay in it.

Next up it was Ricky Vanasco making his MLB debut in the 8th, and he cruised through a 1-2-3 frame on just seven pitches. He continued in the 9th, getting his first MLB strikeout, and a pair of groundouts to make it six in a row to start his career.

Meanwhile, the offense was struggling to cut into the lead. After stranding two singles in the 7th, a two-out double from Teoscar Hernandez was cashed in on a Muncy single to make it 4-6, but that was all they got.

So the Dodgers were down to their last chance in the 9th, but things started with the bottom of the order, and that went about as expected. So it went smoothly in 1-2-3 fashion in the end.

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11-8, a 94-win pace. Losing tough games against tough teams is one thing, this is another.

Same two teams, same place, same time tomorrow at 4:10 PM HT/7:10 PM PT/10:10 PM ET. While no starter has been named for the Dodgers, it seems likely it’ll be a quasi-pen game involving Kyle Hurt and Ryan Yarbrough. Meanwhile, the Nationals will send their second lefty in a row to the mound in Patrick Corbin.

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