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Washington Nationals Lose 4th Straight Against Dodgers, 3-2

By Chris Lacey

June 21, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher Tanner Roark (57) throws in the third inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
June 21, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher Tanner Roark (57) throws in the third inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports /
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Tonight, Yasmani Grandal‘s three-run homer in the eighth led to the Washington Nationals fourth straight loss

For seven innings, Washington Nationals right-hander Tanner Roark was cruising along and keeping the Dodgers offense off the board. But, in the eighth inning, a three-run home run by Yasmani Grandal led to a crushing 3-2 loss for the Nats against the Los Angeles Dodgers tonight at Dodger Stadium. They have now lost four consecutive games.

The Washington Nationals grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning, due to a solo home run from Bryce Harper to left field. This was the 15th homer of the season for Harper.Then four innings later, the Nats increased their lead to 2-0, thanks to Danny Espinosa hitting a solo home run to left,13th home run of the year.

Scott Kazmir was solid on the mound for the Dodgers. He went six innings, scattered eight hits, gave up two runs, issued one walk and struck out four on 97 pitches (65 strikes). The only negative part of the outing was the home runs surrendered to Harper and Espinosa.

After Kazmir, the Dodgers went to their bullpen in the top of the seventh inning and the move paid off, considering Adam Liberatore tossed a scoreless frame. In the eighth, the Nats almost increased the lead against reliever Louis Coleman. Tanner Roark laced a single to left field with two outs, but Wilson Ramos was thrown out at home by a strong throw from Howie Kendrick.

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Roark finally rain into trouble in the bottom of the eighth and he could not get himself out of it. Joc Pederson walked and Yasiel Puig singled to lead off the inning. Then, Grandal hit a 1-2 fastball to center for a three-run home run to give the Dodgers their first lead of the night. Sammy Solis came in after that to keep the deficit at one and the reliever did his job as he retired Corey Seager and Justin Turner.

Roark threw the ball extremely well, but a mistake in the eighth inning led to him losing for the fifth time in 2016. The right-hander pitched 7.1 innings, allowed six hits, yielded three runs, issued one walk, surrendered one home run and struck out five on 102 pitches (68 strikes) in the loss.

Kenley Jansen picked up his 21st save of the season as he retired the side in the ninth. This was a heart-breaking loss for the Washington Nationals, but there were missed opportunities during the game. The offense had their fair share of struggles as they went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position.

Next: District Daily: No Timetable For Papelbon's Return

Next Game: The Washington Nationals (43-29) will send Joe Ross (6-4, 3.13 ERA) to the mound in the series finale. Julio Urias (0-2, 4.50 ERA) gets the call for the Los Angeles Dodgers (40-33). You can watch the game at 10:10 p.m. ET on MASN or ESPN.

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