Dodgers beat Nationals, 3-2, on James Loney’s walkoff hit
The Dodgers’ Hiroki Kuroda pitched a gem against the Washington Nationals on Saturday night, striking out eight and retiring the last 17 batters he faced.
The only problem: The right-hander’s sparkling performance came after Kuroda had surrendered a two-run home run to Ryan Zimmerman in the first inning.
As a result, Kuroda left the game after seven innings with the Dodgers tied with the Nationals, but James Loney’s bases-loaded single in the 10th inning gave the Dodgers a 3-2 victory at Dodger Stadium.
After pinch-hitter Ronnie Belliard drew a walk from Washington reliever Sean Burnett (0-6), Scott Podsednik singled him to third. Belliard had to hold as Ryan Theriot grounded out with the Nationals using a five-man infield and Andre Ethier was intentionally walked to load the bases before Loney singled down the right-field line to score Belliard.
Jonathan Broxton went two innings to get the victory.
Dodgers Manager Joe Torre said “Kuroda was amazing” and that “it certainly would have been a downer if we weren’t able to pull that one out.”
The win enabled the Dodgers to gain a game on the division-leading San Diego Padres, who lost, so the fourth-place Dodgers are now seven games back in the National League West.
Manager Joe Torre had said before the game that the Dodgers’ recent woes stemmed in part from the team needing “more consistency, I think, through the middle of the lineup” in terms of offense.
But the No. 3 through 7 hitters — Ethier, Loney, Matt Kemp and Casey Blake — continued to struggle, with only Kemp having a run batted in through the first eight innings Saturday.
Kuroda had faced the Nationals only once before, when he threw six scoreless innings against them last Sept. 22 in Washington.
On Saturday, the Nationals wasted no time putting Kuroda and the Dodgers in an early hole with the home run ball, just as Washington’s Adam Dunn had done the prior night against Clayton Kershaw.
After Kuroda opened the game by walking leadoff hitter Roger Bernadina, Ian Desmon popped out and Zimmerman followed with his 22nd home run of the season over the center-field wall to give the Nationals a 2-0 lead.
But Kuroda quickly righted himself, and in the third inning he struck out the side, including Zimmerman and Dunn.
“I give all the credit to [catcher] Brad Ausmus, he knew what pitches for me to throw,” Kuroda said through an interpreter. “After I allowed that home run I was able to keep all my pitches on the lower part of the plate.”
Livan Hernandez, meanwhile, had been roughed up for eight runs in each of his past two starts against the Dodgers. But on Saturday, the veteran Cuban right-hander — who’s the same age, 35, as Kuroda — held the Dodgers hitless until Theriot singled with one out in the fourth inning.
Ethier then doubled and Loney walked, loading the bases for Kemp, who nearly hit a grand slam, but right fielder Michael Morse robbed him with a leaping catch at the top of the wall.
Morse threw the ball to second baseman Adam Kennedy, and after Theriot had tagged up and scored the Dodgers’ first run, Kennedy threw the ball to first base — except Washington had left the base unmanned. As the ball scooted away, Ethier ran home to get the Dodgers even, 2-2.
They had chances after that, leaving the bases loaded in the sixth and stranding Reed Johnson at third in the seventh.
The team needed the win for its confidence, Torre said, and “we hope it’s going to come a little easier here, for a while anyway.”
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