Starting pitchers this afternoon were lefthander Clayton Kershaw (Los Angeles) and righthander Joe Ross (Washington).
Kershaw was the starting and winning pitcher for the Dodgers in Game One.
He then pitched five innings and gave up three runs.
In the season, Kershaw was 12-4 with an 1.63 ERA.
He faced the Nationals once during the season in June and then was the winning pitcher, giving up one run and six hits in seven innings.
Ross was 7-5 in the regular season with a 3.43 ERA.
Ross faced the Dodgers one time this year in June.
He then threw 6 1/3 inning, but had a no-decision in what was a 4-3 loss.
In his career,he pitched two times against the Dodgers and is 0-0.
Today, Ross made his first postseason-appearance.
Before the game, Jaime Jarrín threw the ceremonial first pitch.
Jarrín is the Spanish-language broadcaster for the Dodgers and has been with the club for 57 seasons.
Catching the first pitch was legendary Mexican pitcher Fernando Valenzuela, who pitched eleven seasons (1980-1990) for the Dodgers.
In 1981, the lefthander was the Rookie of the Year in the National League and also won the Cy Young Award.
In that year, Valenzuela created 'Fernandomania' and was 13-7 with a league-leading 180 strikeouts.
In 1981, he won the World Series with the Dodgers.
Clayton Kershaw was pitching on short rest in this must-win situation for the Dodgers, as he started on three days rest.
But he had done so before in the previous three postseasons.
However, it was different this time, as he missed more than two months this season due to a back injury.
Kershaw was placed on the disabled list on June 27 with a mild herniated disc in his lower back.
He was activated again on September 9.
During his absence, the Dodgers played 62 games.
In the top of the first inning, Trea Turner led off for the Nationals with a single on Kershaw's first delivery.
Hereafter, Kershaw threw nine pitches on next hitter Bryce Harper, who then walked.
In the regular season, Kershaw walked only 11 batters in 149 innings pitched.
With runners on first and second base, Kershaw struckout powerhitter Jayson Werth.
In Monday's game, Werth was 3-for-4 with a double, homerun and two RBI's.
The homerun he hit was his 15th in a postseason-game and tied him for eleventh place on the all-time list with legendary Babe Ruth.
With one out, Daniel Murphy delivered a runscoring single that gave the Nationals an early lead.
Kershaw retired the next two batters, but he needed 27 pitches to complete the inning.
It was hoped that Kershaw could give the Dodger-bullpen some rest.
In Monday's loss Dodger-Manager Dave Roberts used all his relievers.
But in the first inning, Kershaw struggled and gave up two hits and a run.
However, the lefthander recovered greatly and did exactly what Roberts hoped for, giving his bullpen a needed rest.
In the bottom of the first inning, Kershaw got offensive support from his teammates.
With two outs, Joe Ross hit Justin Turner with a pitch, then gave up a 2-run homerun to Adrian Gonzalez that put the Dodgers ahead, 2-1.
Now leading 2-1, Kershaw retired the side in the second inning and this time, he needed only nine pitches.
From here on, the lefthander started to dominate and in the meantime also was supported with the necessary runs.
But in the top of the third inning, Washington was productive again and came alongside.
Trea Turner again led off with a single.
Bryce Harper then struckout, but Jayson Werth followed with a single to put runners at the corners.
Moments later, Turner scored the tying run on a sacrifice fly by Daniel Murphy.
Both Washington-runs were scored by Turner and both were batted in by Murphy.
...Closer Kenley Jansen struckout 2 batters...
...and earned a save in today's 6-5 victory...
...On the photo, he pitches for the...
...Netherlands National Team during the...
...World Championship in 2009 in Italy...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
In the bottom of the third inning, Kershaw helped himself with the bat.
He led off the at bat with a double and he then scored on a 2-out single by Justin Turner.
With his double, Kershaw became the first Dodger-pitcher to hit an extra-basehit since Orel Hershiser doubled in 1988.
Hereafter, the Dodgers got the bases loaded when both Adrian Gonzalez and Josh Reddick walked.
A run was then scored when Ross hit Joc Pederson with a pitch.
That brought out Washington-Manager Dusty Baker to the mound, who brought in Oliver Pérez.
He got a force play-grounder that ended the at bat, but the Dodgers were leading 4-2.
Kershaw retired the side in the fourth and fifth inning.
Starting with the sac-fly by Murphy in the third, Kershaw retired eight consecutive batters, including five strikeouts.
Los Angeles added another run in the bottom of the fifth inning.
With two outs, Josh Reddick singled, then scored all the way from first base on a double by Joc Pederson into deep leftfield.
Pederson thought he had hit a homerun, looked at the ball from the batter's box, but when it jumped back from the wall, he had to run hard to reach second base.
But the Dodgers now led 5-2.
After having retired eight in a row, Clayton Kershaw gave up a lead-off single to Jayson Werth in the top of the sixth.
Two line-outs into the outfield followed, then Kershaw closed with a strikeout, which was his tenth in six innings.
After the first inning, Kershaw threw five good innings, then came back for the seventh, which might have been just one too much.
In the top of the seventh inning, Kershaw gave up a lead-off single to Danny Espinosa, which was his first basehit in the Series.
Kershaw retired the next two batters, then Trea Turner hit a hard grounder towards short stop Corey Seager.
He made a fine stop and made an attempt to force out Espinosa at second base, but he was just safe in a close play.
Turner was credited with his third basehit of the afternoon and the Nationals now had runners on first and second base.
Manager Dave Roberts then visited his pitching ace, but left him in the game.
When Kershaw walked next batter Bryce Harper, Roberts came back again to bring in a reliever.
Pedro Baez took over with the bases loaded, but with his first pitch, he hit Jayson Werth and that brought in a run.
Another pitching change followed and Luis Avilan was brought in to face Daniel Murphy.
After letting the first pitch go by, Murphy connected for a 2-run single on the next delivery to make it a 5-5 tie!
That brought out Roberts again, who this time called Joe Blanton to the mound.
He struckout Anthony Rendon to end the inning, but it was a new ballgame.
With two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning, Andrew Toles was hit by a pitch.
He was the fifth batter that was hit by a pitch in this game and the third one of the Dodgers.
That brought the total to eleven hit batters in this Series, which set a new postseason record.
Hereafter, veteran Andre Ethier was inserted as pinch-hitter and delivered a single.
Chase Utley, also a veteran, followed with another single that brought in Toles and gave the Dodgers a 6-5 lead.
Utley came to the Dodgers in August 2015 in a trade with the Philadelphia Phillies, where he had played eleven seasons.
With the Dodgers leading 6-5, closer Kenley Jansen took the mound in the top of the ninth inning.
The Curaçao-born righthander struckout the first two batters, then made the final out himself on first base on a grounder to first baseman Chase Utley.
With that, he secured the minimal lead and earned a save, while the Dodgers equaled the Series to force a fifth game.
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Los Angeles nips Washington to force fifth game in NLDS
LOS ANGELES, California (USA) -
Los Angeles Dodgers won 6-5 against Washington Nationals on Tuesday-afternoon (October 11) in Game Four of the best-of-five National League Division Series.
With the win, the Dodgers equaled the Series at 2-2 and forced a fifth game that will be played on Thursday in Washington.
With the score at 5-5, veterans Andre Ethier and Chase Utley delivered singles that led to the winning run in the eighth inning.