The Dodgers were one strike away from heading into the bottom of the eighth win a one-run lead. But, in baseball, every pitch matters. On a 2-2 pitch with two outs and the bases loaded, newly-signed National Gerardo Parra hit a grand-slam over the fence in right-center, giving the Nationals the 5-2 lead, and ultimately, the victory.
Coming into the game, we were expecting to see a pitchers duel. We got just that early on. The Dodgers sent their young ace Walker Buehler to the mound, with the Nationals countering with their ace and three-time Cy Young Award winner, Max Scherzer.
It looked like Buehler was going to win the battle between the two. He finished the night with seven scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing only four hits.
After a rough first inning, Buehler was able to settle down the rest of the way. He allowed only two hits over the course of the next six innings, and retired the final 12 batters he faced. Overall, he retired 18 of the final 19 batters he faced.
With these two on the mound, runs were going to be at a premium, with only a couple runs being all it took to get the victory. Justin Turner provided LA’s only offense of the night. In the bottom of the third, Turner connected on a fastball, and sent it into the stands to give the Dodgers a 2-0 lead.
.@redturn2 woke up like this. pic.twitter.com/oKM99of5sY
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 12, 2019
Turner continues his hot start to the month of May. He has five homers now through the first nine days, and has hit safely in eight of the nine games played.
Aside from Turner, nobody else was really able to get anything going tonight in the lineup. Alex Verdugo continued his impressive start to his rookie campaign, as he added two hits.
Things fell apart in the eighth. Pedro Baez came in, and quickly found himself in a bases loaded situation. A single, error and walk would load the bases for the Nats. He would be replaced by Scott Alexander. Juan Soto would single in a run, cutting LA’s lead to only one. Dylan Floro came in to replace Alexander, and struck out Anthony Rendon. With two outs, Parra stepped up to the plate.
On a 2-2 pitch, he crushed one over the fence, giving the Nats a 5-2 lead. The Dodgers were unable to create a comeback, and dropped their second game of the series.
Saturday particulars
WP: Max Scherzer (2-4) 7 IP, 2 ER, 7 SO
LP: Pedro Baez (2-2) 1⁄3 IP, 3 R
SV: Sean Doolittle (6) 1 IP, 0 ER
Home runs: Justin Turner (6) Gerardo Parra (2)
Up next
The Dodgers will look to even the series tomorrow as they send Hyun-Jin Ryu to the mound. First pitch is at 1:10 pm PT on SportsNet LA.