Dodgers storm their way back to sweep Nationals

On a stormy Sunday night in September, the Dodgers completed a three-game sweep of the Washington Nationals, winning the finale 7-5.

Both Justin Wrobleski and Nationals southpaw Andrew Alvarez kept the ice frozen until the bottom of the third inning, as a Max Muncy double and Tommy Edman infield single allowed Mookie Betts to bring home Muncy on a groundout to give the Dodgers their third consecutive early lead.

After three scoreless innings without six strikeouts, the Nationals struck back in the top of the fourth with a lead-off home run from CJ Abrams— his third in seven at-bats against Wrobleski— evening the score at one. Brady House immediately followed with a single, and a double from Daylen Lile put two men on, still with no outs. Teoscar Hernández was unable to track down a fly ball to left from Harry Ford, plating both baserunners and giving Washington a two-run lead. Jacob Young carried the frenzy with a single to center to plate four, ending the night for Wrobleski.

The second half of the regular season has not been kind to Wrobleski, as he has a 7.55 ERA across 31 innings over seven appearances (six starts). His three complete innings on Sunday were the fewest in any start this season.

Brock Stewart managed to clean up the mess made by Wrobleski, and Blake Treinen made his first appearance since June 19, working a scoreless fifth inning to keep the deficit at three runs. The Dodgers responded with a rally against Alvarez in the bottom half, as a Tommy Edman double plated Max Muncy to cut the deficit in half. Brad Lord came in relief and got Mookie Betts to ground out for the first out, but the Dodgers sprayed three consecutive singles to knot the game even at 4.

Bobby Miller made his season debut, making his first big league appearance since May 24 last year, but he struggled to keep the game tied after plunking Dylan Crews with two outs and the bases loaded, finishing with 27 pitches in the top of the sixth inning while letting Washington take a one run lead. The Dodgers managed to put two on with two outs in the bottom of the sixth, but Betts just missed hitting one out to left field to get Washington out of trouble.

Miller worked a spotless seventh inning on 17 pitches, but after Will Smith worked a lead-off walk to start the bottom half against Will Dion, but the left-hander struck out the side in order to keep the Dodgers at bay.

Miller then worked a perfect eighth inning— thanks in part to a Kyle Tucker home run robbery to keep the score at a one-run Dodger deficit— eventually finishing the night with three innings of work allowing just one run.