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Yasiel Puig doesn't stop, neither does Dodgers' winning streak

By Eric Stephen
Harry How/Getty Images

I'm still not even sure how this happened. But as Yasiel Puig circled the bases on what began as a hard single through the infield, the Dodgers managed to turn a one-run deficit into a 4-3 walkoff win over the Nationals, thanks to a three-base error by Michael Taylor in center field.

Howie Kendrick singled with one out against Shawn Kelley in the ninth, then Puig followed with his single. Kendrick was prepared to stop at second base until he saw the ball go under Taylor's glove in center field, allowing Kendrick to score the tying run.

But what made the play even more memorable and crazy was that Puig just never stopped running, wild horsing his way all the way around the bases, sliding headfirst into home plate to complete the sweep of the Nationals.

It was the second night back off the disabled list for Puig, who missed three weeks with a strained left hamstring.

"He passed the final test, going home to home," manager Dave Roberts joked after the game, on SportsNet LA.

The Dodgers have now won six straight games.

The final play ended an excruciating night for Taylor, who struck out in all five of his at-bats.

It stole the thunder of Wilson Ramos, who was vying for the title of "catcher to hit the game-winning home run in the eighth inning of a 3-2 win" that Yasmani Grandal claimed on Tuesday.

It was the seventh home run allowed this season by Pedro Baez, most by a Dodgers reliever, and the fourth go-ahead home run he has allowed in the eighth inning or later.

The only Dodgers pitcher to allow more home runs than Baez this season is Scott Kazmir, with a dozen.

The Dodgers managed just two runs off Nationals starter Joe Ross, who pitched into the seventh inning. One of the runs came on a solo home run by Corey Seager in the third inning, the team-leading 16th of the season for the shortstop, giving him seven home runs for a second straight month.

A walk and a single to open the seventh against Ross gave the Dodgers a chance to take the lead, then both runners were sacrificed into scoring position by A.J. Ellis. a That ended the night for Ross, and ended the rally for the Dodgers, who saw pinch hitter Kike Hernandez strike out and Seager fly out against southpaw reliever Oliver Perez to neuter the rally.

Julio Urias continued to impress, striking out six in his five innings while only walking one. He allowed three doubles though, two of them in the second inning to drive in runs, including one by the pitcher Ross, one of his two hits on the night.

Washington scored two runs in the third inning but that was all they would get against Urias, who lasted five innings while throwing a career-high 94 pitches. Since walking four batters in his major league debut, the 19-year-old has walked just five since, one walk in each start, with 32 strikeouts during that span, in 24⅓ innings, impressive no matter his age. Like this:

Urias also picked Ryan Zimmerman off first base in the fourth inning, the third straight start with a pickoff for Urias, who picked off five runners in his final four starts in Triple-A, too.

The fifth inning also saw two notable foul pop ups, including one by Bryce Harper with inexplicably dropped between Grandal and Justin Turner. It gave Harper new life, but he ended up popping out in foul territory to Turner anyway, after two earlier strikeouts against Urias.

But the other notable pop up in the fifth inning was off the bat of Ross, ending with this spectacular catch by Adrian Gonzalez.

Up next

The Dodgers have Thursday off, but open up their four-game wraparound weekend series in Pittsburgh on Friday night. The Pirates will send rookie Jameson Taillon to the mound in the opener, making just his fourth major league start. The Dodgers still haven't announced their starting pitcher.

Wednesday particulars

Home runs: Corey Seager (16); Wilson Ramos (12)

Little league home run: Yasiel Puig

WP - Chris Hatcher (5-3): 1 up, 1 down

LP - Shawn Kelley (1-1): ⅔ IP, 2 hits, 2 unearned runs, 2 strikeouts

In This Stream

June 22: Dodgers 4, Nationals 3

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