Washington’s Nationals are 4-11 in their last 15 games, with a 7-11 record on the road after the three-game sweep at the hands of the Milwaukee Brewers in Miller Park left them 1-5 through six games on their three-city, ten-game road trip, which continues tonight in Los Angeles, with the first of four against the Dodgers, who are 15-4 at home so far in 2019. “We keep beating ourselves right now,” Nats’ skipper Davey Martinez told reporters after the Nationals’ fourth straight loss on Wednesday afternoon. “We’ve got to come out and play baseball. We battled back again, but we’ve got to start playing clean baseball, stop giving other teams 30 outs, and playing good baseball. “If you think about it on the other end, we had 27 outs, [15] of them were strikeouts so we’ve got to start putting the ball in play.” Martinez has repeatedly stressed the need to put the ball in play and move the ball around as the Nationals have struggled to score runs. GM Mike Rizzo told 106.7 the FAN in D.C.’s Sports Junkies on Wednesday that the Nationals’ offense has been “practically non-existent” since the injuries started piling up over the last few weeks, but the second-year skipper said he still believes the team will turn it around as they start to get players back. “Like I’ve said before, we’re going to turn this around,” Martinez said, “but we’ve got to play baseball, we’ve got to play clean baseball. Nobody in there is going to hold their heads down, I’ll tell you right now. You watch the games, they battle back, the bullpen came in and pitched well, so we’ve got to keep our heads up and we’ve got to come out tomorrow and play baseball, good baseball. We’ve got Pat Corbin pitching tomorrow and he’s going to keep us in the game, and we’ve got to attack early, score early, and just get outs when we can.” Is it hard to keep their heads up though, as the losses pile up and the hole they’re digging gets deeper? “You listen to those guys and you listen to the coaches,” Martinez said, “we get a hit and they’re all clapping, they’re all pushing, and we score a run and they’re jacked up, so they’ve just got to feed off of that and they’ve got to believe in each other and continue to fight.” The fight continues tonight, in the series opener with the Los Angeles Dodgers... HERE’S THE NATIONALS’ LINEUP FOR THE 1ST OF 4 WITH THE DODGERS:<doc-sep>After a three-game sweep against the Atlanta Braves, the Dodgers welcome the Washington Nationals to Dodger Stadium for a four-game series. LA enters the series with the best record in the national league. They’re currently riding a 10-game winning streak at home. Meanwhile, things are going in the complete opposite direction for the Nationals. They’ve lost four in a row, and 11 of their last 14 games. Coming into the series, they have the second worst record in the national league. Thursday: Rich Hill (0-0, 3.60 ERA) vs. Patrick Corbin (2-1, 3.71 ERA) First pitch: 7:10 pm PDT Hill will be making his third start of the year for LA. He was great in his first start, allowing only one run in six innings, but found struggles last week in San Diego. Lasting only four innings, Hill couldn’t seem to figure out the Padres lineup, especially Manny Machado. He allowed two homers to the former Dodger, and allowed a total of seven hits in his brief outing. Corbin is a familiar face for the Dodgers, having played with the D-Backs for many years. He dominated LA last year, posting a 0.77 ERA, and striking out 31 in 23 1⁄ 3 innings. Having signed a huge contract with Washington in the offseason, Corbin has struggled over his last two outings. He’s allowed nine runs and walked seven batters over his last 11 innings. Justin Turner and Austin Barnes have had success off of Corbin, with Turner hitting .375 with two homers off him, and Barnes hitting .300 with two homers off Corbin as well. Friday: Kenta Maeda (3-2, 4.66 ERA) vs. Anibal Sanchez (0-5, 5.15 ERA) First pitch: 7:10 pm PDT It’s been an up-and-down season for Kenta. If you look at his starts, every other start is a quality start, with every other one being a bad start. Game by game, he’s allowed 3, 1, 5, 1, 6, 0, 4 runs. If he’s been consistent with anything, it’s having a good start every two games. He’s coming off a game in which he allowed four runs in six innings at San Diego. His walk numbers are up this year, as he’s walked at least three batters in four games. After a great 2018 campaign with Atlanta, Anibal Sanchez has struggled immensely in 2019. He’s lost four straight starts, and his ERA sits at over five. His last start was actually his best of the season, where he threw 4 2⁄ 3 innings of scoreless ball and struck out nine. However, if you take away that start, he’s allowed 21 runs in only 32 innings of work. Saturday: Walker Buehler (4-0, 4.95 ERA) vs. Max Scherzer (1-4, 3.78 ERA) First pitch: 6:10 pm PDT Both of these pitchers have gotten off to shockingly bad starts. Buehler, though undefeated, currently has an ERA that sits just under five. He’s coming off a seven-inning outing, his longest of the season, as well as having eight strikeouts, tying a season-high. For Buehler, it’s the third time around in the lineup that has plagued him. Opponents are hitting only .196 the first two times through the order, but are hitting a whopping .409 the third time. Yet again, Scherzer is at the top of the leaderboard in all of baseball with 72 strikeouts. Though, the Nats are 1-7 in his eight starts. For the most part, he’s doing what he normally does. He’s eating up innings and limiting runs, the Nats just aren’t giving him much run support. His ERA would be lower, but thanks to a blowup start against the Marlins in which he allowed six runs, it currently sits right below four. Sunday: Hyun-Jin Ryu (4-1, 2.03 ERA) vs. Stephen Strasburg (3-2, 3.71 ERA) First pitch: 1:10 pm PDT Hyun-Jin Ryu is quietly putting together a Cy-Young Award type season. He’s coming off a complete came shutout, in which he needed only 93 pitches. Over his last three starts, he’s progressively gone deeper, throwing seven innings, followed by eight, and then nine. He currently has 45 strikeouts to only two walks, which gives him a 22.5 to one strikeout-to-walk ratio. Should the season end today, that would be the highest in baseball history. Strasburg is near the NL leaderboard with strikeouts as well, having 68 on the season. He has 40 over his last four starts, including two starts with 11. In his last start, he was cruising through six, having allowed no runs and three hits against Milwaukee. He was lit up for four runs in the seventh, and taken out before completing the inning.<doc-sep>Washington’s Nationals were trailing 2-0 in the top of the eighth and were up to 16 innings without a run going back to the ninth inning of the series opener in LA, when skipper Davey Martinez’s squad busted out of that scoreless inning streak with a five-run frame in which Juan Soto battled left-hander Scott Alexander for nine pitches before sending an RBI single to left and Gerardo Parra hit a grand slam to center off Dylan Floro that put the visiting team up 5-2. Scherzer vs the Dodgers: Winless in five starts with a 4.05 ERA, four walks, 44 strikeouts, and a .271/.292/.414 line against in 33 1⁄ 3 IP over those outings, Max Scherzer took on the Dodgers tonight looking to snap that streak, which stretched back to an April 7th win over the New York Mets. On the mound in LA, the Nationals’ ace worked around a hit-by-pitch in the first, and got out of a first and second, no-out jam in the second, but a two-out walk in the Dodgers’ third was followed by a two-run homer by Justin Turner, on a 2-1 heater Scherzer grooved, right down the pipe and out to center for a 2-0 lead. Turner’s 6th of 2019. Alex Verdugo worked the count full and doubled to right to start the bottom of the fourth, but he was stranded at second three outs later. Scherzer got through five innings on 87 pitches, striking out five of the 22 batters he faced, retired the Dodgers in order in a 15-pitch sixth that left him at 102 total, and returned in the bottom of the seventh inning for a 13-pitch frame that left him at 115 pitches overall with a total of seven Ks from 29 batters. Max Scherzer’s Line: 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 Ks, 1 HR, 115 P, 75 S, 5/4 GO/FO. Buehler vs the Nationals: Walker Buehler was unbeaten in seven outings heading into the third of four with the Nationals in Dodger Stadium, with a (4-0) record, a 4.95 ERA, 3.62 FIP, nine walks, 32 Ks, and a .231/.283/.366 line against in 36 1⁄ 3 IP. Buehler worked his way out of an early jam in the first, when a check-swing single by Adam Eaton and a bunt single by Victor Robles, on which the Dodgers’ committed an error set the Nationals up with runners on second and third with no one out. Juan Soto walked in the next at bat, but Robles apparently thought the bases were loaded, so he wandered towards third after ball four to Soto and got picked off by Dodgers’ catcher Austin Barnes. A fly ball to short right and swinging K followed. Buehler tossed three scoreless on 48 pitches, and took the mound in the fourth with a 2-0 lead and worked around a leadoff double by Anthony Rendon. After striking out the side in a 15-pitch fifth, Buehler retired the side in order in a five-pitch sixth, completing six scoreless on 82 pitches, and a 1-2-3 top of the seventh had him up to 12 straight batters retired and 97 pitches overall after seven scoreless, with 12-straight outs to end his start. Walker Buehler’s Line: 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 Ks, 97 P, 66 S, 7/4 GO/FO. Soto Still Streaking: Juan Soto missed 10 games on the IL with back spasms, but returned to the lineup tonight with a 15-game on-base streak going, over which the 20-year-old was 14 for 57 (.246/.358/.474) with a double, four home runs, nine walks, and 16 Ks in 67 PAs. Juan Soto is back, and he feels "really good right now." For more, check out @ACorddry's pregame report and read the latest from @masnKerr: https://t.co/MVgDXQGChj pic.twitter.com/46kziuEv8c — Nationals on MASN (@masnNationals) May 12, 2019 In his first at bat back, the Nationals’ left field had runners on second and third with no outs, and he worked the count full and walked, though Victor Robles got picked off second base thinking that it was a bases-loaded walk. Soto K’d swinging the second time up against Walker Buehler, 0 for 1, BB, and he lined out to the warning track in left in his sixth-inning at bat. With the bases loaded in the eighth, Soto stepped in against Dodgers’ lefty Scott Alexander with one out and a .235/.297/.559 line against left-handers on the year and fell behind 1-2 in the at bat, but battled for nine pitches, fouling off a total of six pitches before sending an RBI single out to left to make it a one-run game, 2-1 LA. BULLPEN ACTION: Washington’s streak of 12-straight outs ended with a leadoff single by Wilmer Difo in the top of the eighth, after Pedro Báez took over on the mound for LA, and Howie Kendrick reached on an error by Justin Turner in the next at bat, putting runners on the corners with no one out. Adam Eaton’s bunt moved Kendrick’s pinch runner, Michael A. Taylor, over to second, and a walk to Victor Robles loaded them up and ended Báez’s outing. Scott Alexander came on to face Juan Soto, lefty vs lefty, and got ahead 1-2 but couldn’t put Soto away, losing a nine-pitch battle that ended with an RBI single to left field that made it a 2-1 game. Dylan Floro was the third pitcher in the eighth for the Dodgers, and he went to a full count with Anthony Rendon and threw a two-seamer way inside that got the Nats’ third baseman swinging for out No. 2. Gerardo Parra stepped in next (0 for 3, 1 K) and hit a grand slam to center field, 5-2 Nationals. Wander Suero took the mound with a three-run lead and retired the side in order in an 11-pitch inning. Sean Doolittle came on in the ninth looking for save No. 6 of 2019, and retired the side in order to end it. Ballgame, 5-2 Nats. Nationals now 16-23<doc-sep>LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Everything is going all right for Dodgers outfielder Joc Pederson this year. Pederson homered twice, Kenta Maeda pitched one-hit ball over six innings and Los Angeles cruised past the Washington Nationals 5-0 Friday night. Pederson hit his 14th career leadoff homer in the first inning, tying Rafael Furcal for second on the team's career list. He struck again in the fifth, putting a ball in the back of Washington's bullpen for his 12th of the season. Pederson has 11 career multihomer games and three this season. All 12 of his home runs have come against right-handed pitching, tying the Brewers' Christian Yelich for most against righties this season. And he is doing his damage with sporadic playing time as the Dodgers rotate their outfielders, other than Cody Bellinger, who plays daily. ''Rhythm and flow plays a huge role into being consistent,'' said Pederson, a left-handed hitter who has just 17 at-bats and three hits against lefties this year. ''It's really good when you can get in there and get into game flow to ride out pitches.'' Maeda gave up just Wilmer Difo's single to lead off the third as the Dodgers won for the 11th time in their last 12 home games. Maeda (4-2) struck out six and walked two. ''I had a good feeling on my pitches around the fifth and six innings in my outing (Sunday) at San Diego,'' Maeda said through a translator. ''The biggest difference was my slider. I had a good feeling on the break, and I was able to carry that over today.'' Julio Urias pitched three innings of scoreless relief for his second career save. It was Urias' second save in two outings after he pitched a scoreless inning Monday, but the Dodgers prefer the swing man to get multiple innings whenever possible. ''He is strong in every facet of the word, physically, and more importantly mentally with the different roles that are presented to him,'' manager Dave Roberts said. Story continues Anibal Sanchez (0-6) allowed three runs and six hits in 4 1/3 innings, including both of Pederson's homers. He has not won a start since Sept. 23 and has not won a game on the road since Aug. 3. ''It's many years at this level, I played through everything,'' Sanchez said. ''I need to continue to work. At some point, everything is going to change for good. As long as I continue healthy, I think I can do something good on the mound.'' The Dodgers also got an RBI triple from Chris Taylor in the fourth on a ball misplayed by right fielder Adam Eaton. David Freese added a two-run homer in the seventh off reliever Matt Grace to give the Dodgers 39 home runs at home this season. Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy preserved the shutout with two outs in the eighth with a diving stop on Anthony Rendon's hard, bases-loaded grounder down the line. Muncy got to his feet and dived to third base for a force out. SEAGER SCRATCHED The Dodgers won without shortstop Corey Seager, who was scratched shortly before first pitch and was not on the bench at the start of the game due to a personal matter. Seager was back in the dugout and available to pinch hit in the later innings. ''Corey just had something personal that came up literally an hour before the game so he had to go take care of it,'' Roberts said. ''Family first. Personal stuff first. He went and took care of it and was back on the bench sometime in the middle of the game.'' The Dodgers also played without third baseman Justin Turner, who was given a day off against a right-handed pitcher. TRAINER'S ROOM Nationals: LF Juan Soto, on the 10-day injured list with back spasms, took batting practice and ran the bases. He is expected to be activated before Saturday's game. Dodgers: LHP Caleb Ferguson started a rehab assignment at Class A Rancho Cucamonga following an oblique strain. Ferguson struck out two and walked one in a scoreless inning. UP NEXT Nationals: The Nationals are 1-7 this season in games started by RHP Max Scherzer (1-4, 3.78 ERA), including five straight losses. That's the longest such skid for Scherzer's teams in his starts since a six-game slide for Arizona and Detroit spanning the 2009 and '10 seasons. Dodgers: RHP Walker Buehler (4-0, 4.95) hit 99 mph for the first time this season in his start Monday against the Braves and also reached 100 pitches for the first time. --- More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports<doc-sep>
Howie Kendrick hit a three-run home run in the first and Patrick Corbin tossed seven innings of shutout ball before Kendrick drove in the fourth of six runs the Washington Nationals put up in a 6-0 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Chavez Ravine. LA’s ten-game home win streak and the Nationals’ four-game losing streak on the road both came to an end in the series opener in Dodger Stadium. Corbin vs LA: Patrick Corbin threw a career-high 118 pitches in six innings last time out before tonight, in a 10-8 win over the Phillies in which he received no decision. Talking about the outing after the game, the left-hander said Philadelphia’s hitters battled him throughout the early innings, pushing his pitch count up. “Early on they just made me work a little bit,” Corbin explained. “I was just maybe a tick off on some pitches early in at bats, fell behind, and that’s a good team there, so didn’t want to make mistakes, threw a lot more pitches than I really wanted to, and I felt as the game went on I was able to work ahead. I thought my stuff was good all night and just was attacking them in those later innings, and I felt really strong still at the end there and was happy with that.” How would he bounce back after throwing all those pitches last time out? Tonight in LA, the left-hander started strong, taking the mound with a 3-0 lead and tossing three scoreless and hitless on 45 pitches, striking out six of the first 11 batters he faced. Corbin gave up his first hit of the night in the fourth, on a hard-hit grounder to third that ate up Anthony Rendon, and the Dodgers loaded the bases with one out, before a 5-4-3 DP off of Chris Taylor’s bat ended the threat. A quick, 13-pitch fifth, in which he worked around a hit-by-pitch, left Corbin at 77 pitches on the night, and a 15-pitch sixth pushed him up to 92. Corbin gave up a one-out single by Russell Martin in the bottom of the seventh, but another 5-4-3 DP got him out of the inning at 107 pitches overall. Patrick Corbin’s Line: 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 8 Ks, 107 P, 65 S, 5/5 GO/FO. Hill vs D.C.: Recently-turned 39-year-old veteran Rich Hill made his 2019 debut on April 28th, after missing time with a strained MCL suffered in Spring Training. In two starts in what is the southpaw’s 15th big league campaign, Hill gave up 12 hits (4 HRs) and eight runs total, four of them earned, walking one and striking out nine over 10 innings before he took on the Nationals tonight in the series opener in Dodger Stadium. Howie Kendrick hit the fifth home run of the season off Hill in the top of the first, on a 2-2 curve that the lefty left up after he gave up a leadoff double by Adam Eaton and hit Nats’ third baseman Anthony Rendon. Kendrick’s 6th. 3-0 Nationals. Howie Kendrick... For three... IT'S GOOD! TOP 1 // #Nats 3, Dodgers 0 pic.twitter.com/eRxtnK1Cm2 — Washington Nationals (@Nationals) May 10, 2019 Hill held the Nationals there through five, but he was up to 96 pitches after the fifth, and he was lifted for a pinch hitter in the bottom of the inning. Rich Hill’s Line: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 Ks, 1 HR, 96 P, 59 S, 4/3 GO/FO. #StopHittingRendon! : It happened again. Anthony Rendon took a fastball off the knee in his first trip to the plate tonight, with Rich Hill hitting him this time, making it HBPs in four of his last five games, including the April 20th outing in Miami that eventually led to a stint on the Injured List with a bruised elbow. Howie. Kendrick. : Howie Kendrick had hits in nine of 12 games heading into tonight’s series opener in LA, going 12 for 40 (.300 AVG) with two home runs, three walks, and a total of five runs scored over that stretch, and he made it hits in 10 of 13 with a three-run blast in the top of the first. His second hit of the night, in the eighth, drove in the fourth run for the visiting team, making it 4-0. That’s Howie jump out to an early lead!