Washington Nationals: Three Takeaways From Game 1 NLDS Loss

Check out our three takeaways from the Washington Nationals 4-3 loss to the Dodgers in Game 1 of the NLDS

Yesterday, the Washington Nationals began their NLDS matchup against the Los Angeles Dodgers. While the pitching matchup wasn’t the duel everyone thought would happen, Game 1 still had its fair share of drama.

Neither ace pitcher had their great stuff last night. Max Scherzer gave up four runs and two home runs in the first three innings. However, he only gave up two hits over the last three innings of his outing, which kept the Washington Nationals within striking distance.

As for Kershaw, the Dodgers gave him the 4-0 lead, but he wasn’t his dominant self last night. He only went five innings, gave up three runs on eight hits, struck out seven, and walked one in the win. The Nats offense had a chance to make that line look worse, but they failed to do so.

Despite the lack of timely hitting (1-for-10 with men in scoring position), Anthony Rendon and Ryan Zimmerman each had multi-hit games in the middle of the order. Rendon drove in the first two runs in the third with a base hit to left after Jayson Werth and Bryce Harper pulled off a double steal.

When you look at this game, arguably the decision that was the biggest head scratcher was Daniel Murphy trying to steal second in the seventh against Pedro Baez with Rendon at the plate. While I liked the aggressiveness from Murphy there, he needs to have a bigger lead if he’s going to steal. Here are Dusty Baker’s comments on the steal after the game:

Today, the Washington Nationals will hand the ball to Tanner Roark as they try to salvage a split of the first two games. He will take the ball against Rich Hill for the Dodgers. You can watch the game on FS1 at 4:08 p.m ET. Before Game 2 gets underway, here are my three thoughts from Game 1: