Dodgers delay Clayton Kershaw start, then fate throws curve into plans

Justin Turner played only five innings Friday, but looked exhausted.

“That was pretty brutal,” he said.

The Dodgers returned from the All-Star break Friday to open a three-game road series against the Washington Nationals, only for the game to be delayed multiple times because of a malfunctioning set of lights down the left-field line.

Rather than delay it a third time, the umpires suspended the game, which is now scheduled to resume Saturday at 11:05 a.m. PDT. When the game restarts, the Dodgers will be trailing, 3-2, in the top of the sixth inning. There will be no outs and Turner will be at the plate.

As for the original Saturday game, it will start at 1:05 p.m. PDT or 20 minutes after the first game ends, whichever is later.

The game marks the start of a three-city, 10-game trip that also includes visits to Atlanta and New York Mets.

“As if the road trip wasn’t going to be long enough, you know?” Turner said.

The first interruption came with one out in the bottom of the fourth inning, when a bank of lights suddenly turned off.

“I thought it was lightning or something,” said Dodgers starting pitcher Mike Bolsinger, who was on the mound.

Bolsinger signed autographs during the delay. “I thought it was a good way to keep my arm loose,” he said.

Turner retreated to the clubhouse, where he said he played a dice game.

The home team’s eagle-costumed mascot, Screech, batted balls into the stands. He later made his way toward the Dodgers bullpen and gestured toward the relievers. They gestured back.

With Screech nearby, Bolsinger entered the bullpen to start warming up again.

Right then, the lights came back on. Official time of delay: 82 minutes.

When the game resumed, Bolsinger was back on the mound. He recorded the last two outs of the fourth inning to preserve a 2-1 lead.

The Dodgers pinch-hit for him in the bottom in the inning, a decision with which Bolsinger agreed.

“That’s a long time sitting around doing nothing,” he said. “You start stiffening up. I’m getting older. I’m not 21 years old.”

The Nationals’ starter, Jordan Zimmermann, never returned to the game.

Only nine minutes elapsed between the first delay and the second. This time, the unwanted break came in the top of the fifth and lasted 40 minutes.

“They basically told us if it happened again, we wouldn’t finish it, we would finish it tomorrow,” Mattingly said.

And that’s what happened.

Asked if the umpires explained what was happening with the lights, Mattingly said, “They were having some talks about breakers and things and computer glitches. It was over my head.”

What unfolded was particularly disconcerting for the Dodgers, who realigned their rotation in an attempt to reduce the bullpen’s workload.

The team’s relievers will be responsible Saturday for the final four innings of the first game, plus however short Kershaw falls of a complete game in the second.

Kershaw was initially scheduled to start Friday, followed by Bolsinger and Zack Greinke, in that order.

But after Kershaw’s 22-pitch inning in the All-Star game, Mattingly decided to give him an extra day of rest, which is how Bolsinger ended up starting Friday.

In the upcoming series at Atlanta, Brandon Beachy will start Monday, Brett Anderson on Tuesday and Bolsinger on Wednesday.

The primary objective of the realignment was to prevent Bolsinger and Beachy from pitching on consecutive days, as Mattingly feared that could result in a particularly taxing two-day stretch for his relievers.

Bolsinger has pitched fewer than six innings in six of his last seven starts. Beachy lasted only four innings in his first game back from reconstructive elbow surgery.

dylan.hernandez@latimes.com

Twitter: @dylanohernandez