Teoscar Hernández helps Dodgers avoid sweep

WASHINGTON D.C — The Los Angeles Dodgers avoided the sweep in the nation's capital as Teoscar Hernández hit another home run, leading to a 6-5 win on Wednesday afternoon at Nationals Park. 

Hernández drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning with a single to right field. Hernández came to bat with Tommy Edman on base and hit a two-run home run, his fifth of the season. Currently, five players share the National League lead in home runs, with Hernández and Edman among them, both having hit five home runs so far.

In 14 games played this season, the Dodgers have only scored first in five of those games. They scored four runs with the first four batters faced by right-hander Jake Irvin. 

Shohei Ohtani led off the first inning with a single, followed by a walk from Mookie Betts. Tommy Edman then hit a double, which allowed both Ohtani and Betts to score. The Dodgers’ offense quickly responded, as manager Dave Roberts was unhappy with the team striking out 15 times the night before on Tuesday. 

Andy Pages is making progress despite a challenging start to the season, recording four hits in his first 12 games. He hit a solo home run to left off right-hander Eduardo Salazar, marking his second home run of the season, with his first coming on Tuesday.

Irvin pitched six innings, allowing four hits and four runs while striking out seven. Although he struggled initially, Irvin settled down after the first inning, throwing a total of 103 pitches and issuing three walks. Salazar took the loss after giving up three hits and two runs in just two-thirds of an inning.

The Dodgers called up right-hander Landon Knack, sending down Justin Wrobleski after Wrobleski's five-inning outing on Tuesday. Knack took the mound with a four-run lead, while CJ Abrams hit a solo home run, his fourth of the season, which initiated a three-run inning for the Nationals.

Roberts had no choice but to stop the Nationals' momentum, utilizing six pitchers from the bullpen. Blake Treinen came in for his second save of the season after almost allowing a comeback. The Dodgers' pitching staff allowed a total of five hits and five runs. In the first two games of the series, the Dodgers surrendered 20 hits and 14 runs.

The Dodgers will have an off day on Thursday. Yoshinobu Yamamoto (1-1, 1.69 ERA) is scheduled to start on Friday as they begin a three-game series against the Chicago Cubs at Dodger Stadium. The Cubs will go with left-hander Matthew Boyd (1-0, 0.00 ERA).