LOS ANGELES, CA – (News4usonline) It took a while, but the bats of the Los Angeles Dodgers finally came alive against the Washington Nationals in Game 1 of their National League Division Series faceoff at Dodger Stadium. A couple of home runs late gave the Dodgers enough cushion to secure a 6-0 win Thursday.
The final score is somewhat deceiving because starting pitchers Walter Buehler and Patrick Corbin were locked in a duel for most of the evening. Buehler pitched lights out through his six innings of work, striking out eight Washington batters while allowing just one hit.
Outside an early slip-up in the first inning, where he allowed an unearned run to come across the plate, Corbin was just as dominant for Washington, striking out nine Dodgers in his six innings of pitching. But eventually, the explosive hitting of the Dodgers would finally erupt.
The Dodgers chipped away at Corbin, scoring a run in the fifth inning, then added two more runs in the seventh inning when Max Muncy connected for a single off of Tanner Rainey to drive home Joc Pederson and Justin Turner. In a blink the Dodgers were now up, 4-0. The Dodgers put the finishing touches of their Game 1 victory in the eighth inning when both Gavin Lux and Pederson went yard.
While the Dodgers bats seem to always take all of the attention, it was actually the team’s collective pitching that really preserved the win. The Dodgers sent four pitchers to the mound in Game 1. Those four pitchers, Buehler, Adam Kolarek, Kenta Maeda, and Joe Kelly, kept the Nationals’ hitters at bay, throwing a two-hit, 13-strikeout performance at Washington.
Dennis has covered and written about politics, crime, social justice, sports, and entertainment. Dennis currently covers the NFL, MLB, NBA, NCAA, and Olympic sports. Dennis is the editor of News4usonline.com and serves as the publisher of the Compton Bulletin newspaper. He earned a journalism degree from Howard University.