LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers have been pushed to the brink of elimination in the first round of the playoffs for the third consecutive year.
The Nationals scored four times in the third inning Monday afternoon then turned it over to their bullpen, which preserved an 8-3 victory in Game 2 of the National League Division Series.
The win puts the Nationals up two games to one in the best-of-five series with Game 4 scheduled for today at 2 p.m. at Dodger Stadium.
The series has been an example of 21st century baseball with starting pitchers pushed to the side early and a relay team of relievers used to pursue favorable matchups. The Nationals’ Game 1 starter, Max Scherzer, completed six innings — a Herculean workload in this series. No other starter has even thrown a pitch in a sixth inning. Clayton Kershaw completed five in Game 1. Every other starter has been gone by the end of the fifth.
Kenta Maeda made the shortest cameo appearance. The Dodgers’ starter had difficulties aligning with home plate umpire Ron Kulpa’s strike zone in the first inning and had strike Ryan Zimmerman out with the bases loaded to escape damage.
He couldn’t escape in the third. Four of the first five Nationals batters in the inning had hits, producing four runs on Jayson Werth’s RBI double, Bryce Harper’s RBI single and Anthony Rendon’s two-run home run.
That was the end of Maeda’s day. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts pinch-hit for him in the bottom of the third, searching for some offense against Nats lefty Gio Gonzalez.
Corey Seager gave him some in the first inning. This time, it was an RBI double from the rookie shortstop (not the first-inning home run he hit in each of the first two games).
The Dodgers’ normal malaise against left-handed pitching set in after that — until Carlos Ruiz came off the bench to pinch-hit in the fifth inning. The only player on the Dodgers’ postseason roster to have hit a home run off Gonzalez, Ruiz did it again, launching a two-run shot into the left-field pavilion.
The Nationals’ bullpen took over from there.
Sammy Solis, Oliver Perez, Shawn Kelley and Mark Melancon combined to hold the Dodgers to two hits over the final 4 2/3 innings, allowing no runner past first base in that time. On Sunday in Washington, a similar tag team from the Nats’ bullpen held the Dodgers to one hit over the final 4 2/3 innings to preserve a 5-2 win in Game 2.
In the series, the Dodgers have batted .140 (6 for 43) with 14 strikeouts against the Nationals’ relievers over 12 1/3 scoreless innings.
Their job became easier in the ninth when Roberts brought closer Kenley Jansen in to pitch the ninth down a run. Jansen was terrible. He gave up a 450-foot home run to Jayson Werth, walked two and gave up two more runs when Josh Reddick couldn’t hold Ryan Zimmerman’s drive at the wall in right field. Zimmerman scored on a sacrifice fly.
