Doug Fister roughed up as Washington Nationals fall to Dodgers in Game 2
By Pablo Roa
After earning the win in this afternoon’s completion of last night’s suspended game against the Dodgers, the Washington Nationals were unable to secure a series win over Los Angeles in Game 2 of the unusual double-header.
Doug Fister got the start for the Nationals and the right-hander once again struggled to find a groove on the mound. The Dodgers got on the board in the top of the second inning on an RBI single off the bat of Yasiel Puig, giving them a 1-0 lead.
Los Angeles didn’t score a run in the next two innings, but today was not Fister’s day and the right-hander was hit hard again in the top of the fifth.
The Dodgers doubled their lead in the fifth on an RBI single by Justin Turner. Los Angeles then made it a 3-0 game later in the inning on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Andre Ether, scoring Howie Kendrick from third base. The Dodgers scored their third run of the inning on another RBI single by Puig, stretching their lead to 4-0.
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On the day, Fister allowed four earned runs on nine hits while striking out just one and walking two batters over five innings of work. It was a rough start to the second half of the season for Fister, whose ERA is now up to 4.30. The right-hander has now allowed four runs or more six times this season.
While the Dodgers were able to hit Fister hard, the Nationals weren’t able to do much of anything against Dodger’s starter Clayton Kershaw. Kershaw was as dominant as ever, holding the Nationals scoreless over eight shutout innings, striking out a whopping 14 batters along the way.
The Nationals’ lineup managed just three hits against Kershaw all day long and gave Fister no run support.
Perhaps the lone bright spot for the Nationals today was the bullpen, which was phenomenal after Fister exited the game. Tasked with holding the Dodgers to their four-run lead, youngsters Taylor Jordan and Sammy Solis stepped up big time, combining to throw four scoreless innings while allowing just four hits and striking out five batters.
Unfortunately for the Nationals, the damage was done and the offense wasn’t able to chip away at the Dodgers’ lead until it was too late. Once Kershaw left the game, Los Angeles reliever Kenley Jansen entered the game and allowed a two-run homer to Bryce Harper—his 27th of the year—to cut the Dodgers’ lead in half. But that was all the damage the Nationals could do in the ninth, and Jansen retired the side to seal the 4-2 win for his team.
Next Game: After tonight’s loss, the Nationals look to earn a series win against Los Angeles in the rubber game tomorrow afternoon at Nationals Park. Max Scherzer gets the start for the Nationals as Zack Greinke takes the mound for Los Angeles. It’ll be a battle between two All-Stars, with first pitch set for 1:35 p.m. ET.