*Photo from the Washington Post*
Series tied 1-1
Dave Martinez pulled an audible no one saw coming. He sent in Max Scherzer. Stephen Strasburg dominated, Scherzer came in relief, and the Washington Nationals beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-2 to even the NLDS at 1-1. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Scherzer coming in that ''We weren't expecting that." Scherzer needed just 14 pitches to strike out the side in the 8th.
The Nats took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning when Howie Kendrick hit an RBI single to left field. In the second, Adam Eaton hit an RBI single to center, and MVP candidate Anthony Rendon hit an RBI double to left field. In the 6th, Justin Turner hit a sac fly to right field, and Max Muncy blasted a solo homer to right field in the 7th to cut the lead to 3-2. In the 8th, Asdrubal Cabrera hit an RBI single to make it 4-2.
Strasburg got the win for Washington, going 6 innings and giving up one run on 3 hits. He struck out 10 in another good playoff outing for Strasburg. Sean Doolittle worked the 7th, Scherzer pitched the 8th, and Daniel Hudson got the save in the 9th for his second of the playoffs. Scherzer, 3 days off his wild card start, struck out the side on 14 pitches, and maxed out at 99 mph on the radar gun. The Nats pitchers had 17 strikeouts.
Clayton Kershaw took the loss for the Dodgers, going 6 innings and giving up 3 runs on 6 hits and one walk. He struck out 4 as his already bad postseason record took another hit. Dustin May gave up the other run. Will Smith broke up Strasburg's perfect game attempt with a two out single. Before that, their closest ball to a hit came when Kershaw hit a line drive to left field, but Juan Soto laid out for the catch.
The series shifts to Washington for games 3 and 4. Martinez said that Scherzer could still end up starting game 3 depending on how he feels, saying that ''I'm going to see how he feels tomorrow." If Scherzer is unable to start, Martinez said that Anibal Sanchez would get the ball for game 3. Los Angeles will send Cy Young candidate Hyun-Jin Ryu to the mound for game 3.
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