National League Game Summary - Washington at Los Angeles
(Saturday, April 28th)
Final Score: Los Angeles 4, Washington 3 (10 innings)
Los Angeles, CA (Sports Network) - Matt Kemp hit his 11th home run of the year
in the 10th inning to lift the Dodgers to a 4-3 win over the Nationals to
spoil the debut of Bryce Harper.
The Dodgers had scored twice in the ninth to tie the game, and Kemp won it
when he drilled a low, 1-2 fastball over the center field wall for the win.
"We're having fun right now," said Kemp. "It took everybody to get this win
tonight. I got the pitch I wanted to hit, a fastball over the middle and I hit
it hard."
A.J. Ellis and Juan Uribe each drove in a run for the Dodgers, who have won
the first two games of this three-game set. Chad Billingsley gave up just one
run on five hits over seven innings while Jamey Wright (1-0) got the win for a
flawless 10th inning.
"I was proud of the guys for bouncing back in the ninth," said Dodgers manager
Don Mattingly. "To scratch out a win against those guys is showing that our
guys are playing together. It's fun to watch Kemp, you see him getting better
and better."
Harper, the top pick of the 2010 draft, drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in
the ninth and hit a double in the seventh for the Nationals, who have dropped
three straight. Stephen Strasburg went seven innings and gave up one run on
five hits over seven innings. Tom Gorzelanny (1-1) was handed the loss.
Los Angeles left men on first and second in the second inning and Ian Desmond
popped into a double play in the Washington third.
Strasburg hit a leadoff double in the sixth and moved to third on a Desmond
groundout, but Steve Lombardozzi and Jayson Werth both grounded out to end the
inning.
LaRoche led off the seventh with his fourth homer of the season. After the
next two batters struck out, Harper punched a double to center for his first
career hit, but he was left there when Strasburg struck out after Wilson Ramos
was issued a free pass.
"I really didn't have any butterflies," said Harper. "Billingsley has good
stuff and I was just looking for a pitch that I could drive. I wasn't really
thinking about anything when I was standing on second. Hairston came over and
congratulated me. We fought to the end, but I wish we could have gotten the
win."
The Dodgers answered in the bottom of the frame. Jerry Hairston was hit by a
pitch to start the inning and James Loney reached base on an error to Danny
Espinosa. After Uribe struck out, Ellis singled to left. Harper made a strong
throw to the plate and the ball got there on time, but Hairston was able to
knock the ball out of Ramos' glove and tied the game. Juan Rivera hit into a
double play to end the inning.
Washington went back on top in the ninth off Javy Guerra. With men on first
and third, Harper drove in his first run with a sacrifice fly to left and
Ramos followed with an RBI single to right for a 3-1 advantage.
It didn't hold, though, as Henry Rodriguez gave it right back. Mark Ellis
started with a single and took second on a wild pitch. Loney then singled and
a ground-rule double from Uribe made it a one-run game. A.J. Ellis then struck
out and Adam Kennedy hit a grounder back to first that saw Loney nailed at
home. A wild pitch with Dee Gordon at the plate then scored Uribe to tie the
game.
Gordon eventually struck out, but the third strike went wild and he advanced
to first, prompting a pitching change that saw Gorzelanny take the mound and
get Tony Gwynn Jr. to line out sharply to first and end the inning.
Game Notes
A fan ran on the field in the bottom of the ninth inning...Los Angeles has won
four straight over Washington...The Nats left seven men on base while Los
Angeles stranded eight...Kemp set a Dodgers record for home runs in
April...Hairston left the game after the seventh inning with a left hand
contusion. X-rays were negative.
04/29 01:28:16 ET

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