Los Angeles Dodgers 4 – 3 Washington Nationals
The Nationals struck early, tagging Rich Hill for one run that looked like it was going to stand. That is until Joc Pederson took Max Scherzer deep, and setting off a seventh inning for the ages.
The Dodgers ended up plating four in their half of the seventh, thanks to the Pederson homer, a Carlos Ruiz single, and a Justin Turner two-run triple. Washington would rally back with a two-run homer by Chris Heisey which prompted LA manager Dave Roberts to make a gutsy, unconventional move.
Roberts went to Kenley Jansen in the seventh inning, asking him to get through the toughest part of the Nationals lineup. The closer threw 51 pitches in 2.1 innings, but when he ran into trouble closing things out in the ninth, Roberts made another gutsy call – going to the man who had thrown 110 pitches just two days earlier, Clayton Kershaw. Kershaw threw a perfect 2/3 of an inning as the Dodgers clinched their berth in the NLCS. LA will face off against the Chicago Cubs on Saturday at Wrigley.
- Dodgers Sweep Phils, Gain Ground in West - May 1, 2017
- Dodgers Struggle to String Together Wins - April 27, 2017
- Inconsistent Bats Lead to .500 Start for Dodgers - April 12, 2017