Washington Nationals Fall in Dominant Return of Clayton Kershaw

May 6, 2014; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Nationals relief pitcher Blake Treinen (64) pitches during the third inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligaagainst the Los Angeles Dodgers n-USA TODAY Sports

Same old, same old.

Despite not pitching since the Los Angeles Dodgers opened their season in Australia, Clayton Kershaw pitched dominantly in his first action in the States in 2014. He went seven innings, striking out nine Nationals hitters along the way and earning the win in an 8-3 Dodger victory. The Nats were able to get nine hits off him, but he surrendered no walks and allowed no runs to score.

The Nats countered with Blake Treinen. Treinen, making his first start in the majors, was solid in five innings of work. He allowed three runs (none earned) on seven hits. He struck out just two but was effective in keeping the Dodgers off balance.

Los Angeles scored three runs in the top of the sixth inning on RBI singles from Hanley Ramirez and Juan Uribe. The other run scored on a fielder’s choice force out at second base on a ground ball hit by Andre Ethier.

An error by left fielder Scott Hairston allowed Dee Gordon to score in the seventh, but the Dodgers were done playing small ball after that. In the eighth, Ramirez smashed a solo home run and Drew Butera hit a line-drive three-run homer. This brought the score to 8-0.

Both homers came off reliever Ross Detwiler.

With Kershaw out of the game after seven innings, the Nats began to creep back in the bottom of the eighth. Anthony Rendon scored on a Jayson Werth RBI single in the inning, and Jose Lobaton brought Werth and Tyler Moore around to score a few batters later.

Both teams went quietly in the ninth inning, and the Nationals will now be forced to turn to Wednesday-starter Stephen Strasburg for a win. He’ll square off against former National Dan Haren.