The Los Angeles Dodgers will look to rebound a day after a fielding error ended their seven-game winning streak when they open a three-game series against the host Washington Nationals on Monday.
The Dodgers are coming off a 4-3 loss in 10 innings to the host Philadelphia Phillies in which Los Angeles blew a one-run lead with two outs in the ninth and 10th innings to settle for a series win instead of a three-game sweep.
The Nationals are coming off an 8-2 victory at Milwaukee to avoid a three-game sweep by the Brewers on Sunday but have lost five of their past seven games.
The Dodgers will turn to left-hander Tyler Anderson (4-0, 4.04 ERA), who is coming off allowing two runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts and no walks in seven innings during a 12-3 win over the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday.
Anderson has gone 1-1 with a 5.33 ERA with 24 strikeouts and 14 walks in five appearances spanning 27 innings during his career against the Nationals.
The Nationals, who have lost seven of their past 10 games, will counter with rookie right-hander Joan Adon, who is 1-7 with a 6.38 ERA, though he is coming off his best start of the season.
He allowed a run on five hits with two strikeouts and no walks in 4 2/3 innings in which he needed 84 pitches during a 5-1 loss to the Miami Marlins on Tuesday.
“His pitch count got up there a little bit,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. “I think his velocity was the highest that he’s thrown all year, but his tempo, the way he controlled his body, his mechanics (were) way, way better, so I told him, ‘Hey, let’s build off of that and get you (through) the next five days.’ ”
The Nationals are 1-7 in games in which Adon has started this season, though they are averaging just 1.5 runs per game when he’s been on the mound.
But offense wasn’t a problem for the Nationals on Sunday.
Washington’s six runs in the fourth marked its most in an inning this season and were a welcome relief for a team that had scored six runs in its past seven losses, which have occurred in a span of the last nine games.
“Maybe that’ll spark something and we can get some wins over the next few weeks here and get back in it,” center fielder Lane Thomas said.
The Dodgers are coming off perhaps their most disappointing loss of the season.
The Dodgers, who got solo home runs by Mookie Betts, had a 2-1 lead with two outs and nobody on in the ninth.
And that’s when it began to fall apart.
The Phillies scored to tie the game up in the ninth off Yency Almonte. Then after Trea Turner, who went 3-for-5, singled to right to score Betts for a 3-2 lead in the 10th inning, it was the Phillies’ turn to rally.
With two outs and Garrett Stubbs on first, Roman Quinn singled to right off Evan Phillips. Stubbs advanced to third, just ahead of Betts’ throw, which enabled Quinn to take second.
Down to his final strike, Alec Bohm, who had struck out in his past three at-bats, hit a grounder to Muncy, who bobbled the ball. Stubbs scored easily and Quinn slid across the plate just ahead of Barnes’ tag to complete the walk-off win.
“We just didn’t make a pitch here or make a play here,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Give us credit because we kept playing. Unfortunately, we came up short today.”
–Field Level Media
