*Photo from Spectrum News*
Recently named to the NL roster for the 2021 all star game, Los Angeles Dodgers 1B Max Muncy wanted to prove he was rightfully chosen. So he put on a show. Muncy drove in 3 runs, Matt Beaty homered, and the Dodgers defeated the Washington Nationals 5-1 on Sunday afternoon to secure the sweep of the series.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of his bullpen's performance that "The bullpen was fantastic. It was special. Each guy embraced their lane, their role, got huge outs for us. They started at 11 o’clock on Independence Day and it made a really special day that much greater."
The Dodgers were forced to turn to a bullpen game after Trevor Bauer, the originally scheduled pitcher, was placed on administrative leave by MLB in the wake of sexual assault allegations. 8 different Dodgers pitchers were used in the win, with Garrett Cleavinger serving as the opener, David Price getting the win, and Kenley Jansen locking it down in the 9th. Phil Bickford, Victor Gonzalez, Joe Kelly, Blake Treinen, and Jimmy Nelson also pitched.
When asked about the bullpen workload, Roberts said "I think they’re great at it because there’s an unselfishness with this group of guys. They’re talented and they don’t care when they pitch, they just want to pitch and help the next guy."
Beaty got the scoring started in the 4th inning, tying the game 1-1 with a solo homer to center field. In the 7th inning, Albert Pujols hit an RBI single, and Muncy hit an RBI double, to give the Dodgers a 3-1 lead late in the game. In the 9th inning, Austin Barnes and Gavin Lux came around to score on a double to center field by Muncy to make it 5-1 Dodgers.
It was Joe Ross who got stuck with the loss for the Nationals, dropping to 5-8 on the season. Ross allowed 3 runs on 7 hits, walking no one and racking up 11 strikeouts in 6 2/3 solid innings for the Nationals. Wander Suero was responsible for the other two runs to score. Andres Machado and Brad Hand also pitched for the Nationals.
Ross said of being swept that "It's kind of tough, seeing pitchers going down and Schwarber, having the hottest month of all time, going down. We've just got to have that kind of mentality to compete: next guy up, come out and make a play. Sometimes you've just got to go out there and find someone to produce. Obviously, we didn't score 10 runs today. But you know, I think Schwarber couldn't carry us through the whole season. So, at some point, someone's got to step up, and we'll all kind of bear that load."
The Dodgers open up a series with the Miami Marlins on Monday night, with Walker Buehler starting the series opening game. Washington opens a series with the San Diego Padres on Monday, with no announced starter yet.
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