Sep 17, 2017; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman (11) celebrates with teammates after hitting a three run homer against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the sixth inning at Nationals Park. Photo Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports
WASHINGTON — Ryan Zimmerman hit a go-ahead, three-run homer in the sixth inning and added a solo shot in the eighth, and Stephen Strasburg won his fourth start in a row as the Washington Nationals beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-1 on Sunday night.
The Nationals salvaged the finale of the three-game series between first-place teams.
Zimmerman (3-for-4, four RBIs) lined a three-run shot off Ross Stripling with no outs in the sixth to give the Nationals a 3-1 lead. Anthony Rendon led off with a walk against Stripling, and Daniel Murphy (2-for-4) singled up the middle to bring up Zimmerman, who struck out in his first two trips.
It was Zimmerman’s his first homer since Sept. 6 at Miami. The previous homer at Nationals Park for Zimmerman was Aug. 16 against the Los Angeles Angels — a dry spell of 47 at-bats at home.
Rendon had an RBI double down the left field line off rookie reliever Walker Buehler with two outs in the seventh for a 4-1 cushion.
Zimmerman tied a career high with his 33rd homer in his next at-bat against Dodgers reliever Josh Ravin in the eighth. Adam Lind hit his fourth pinch-hit homer of the year later in the eighth, and 12th long ball overall, for a 7-1 advantage.
Strasburg (14-4) gave up just one run and three hits with three walks and eight strikeouts in six innings. Brandon Kintzler, Ryan Madson and Sean Doolittle each pitched a scoreless inning for the Nationals.
Stripling (3-5) yielded three runs and two hits with one walk and one strikeout in 1 1/3 innings.
The first-place Nationals (90-59) have won two of six games since clinching the National League East title on Sept. 10.
The Dodgers (96-53) had won four straight after losing 11 games in a row. Los Angeles has a magic number of four to clinch the NL West after the Arizona Diamondbacks lost earlier Sunday.
Nationals manager Dusty Baker, a former Dodgers outfielder, reached 90 wins in a season as a skipper for the 10th time. He is one of just 12 managers to do so; the other 11 are in the Hall of Fame.
The Dodgers took a 1-0 lead in the second.
Yasiel Puig led off with a single as his broken bat and the ball whizzed past Strasburg.
Puig then stole second base and scored on a two-out double by No. 8 hitter Logan Forsythe. The ball bounced off the glove of center fielder Michael A. Taylor as he was running at full speed toward the wall on the warning track.
It was the first earned run allowed by Strasburg in 35 2/3 innings.
The Nationals decided not to walk Forsythe and pitch to Hyun-Jin Ryu, the Dodgers’ starting pitcher.
With two outs in the fifth and two on, Jayson Werth lined a shot that was just foul down the left field line as the first batter to face Stripling.
The Nationals challenged the call, but the ruling stood. Werth flied out to medium center on the next pitch to end the threat as the Dodgers kept a 1-0 lead.
Ryu went 4 2/3 innings, giving up no runs and three hits with five strikeouts and two walks.
NOTES: Each team started a University of Virginia product: 1B Ryan Zimmerman of the Nationals and CF Chris Taylor of the Dodgers. Washington LHP Sean Doolittle also played for the Cavaliers. … Dodgers LHP Clayton Kershaw (17-3, 2.12 ERA) will start Monday in Philadelphia against RHP Nick Pivetta (5-10, 6.75), a former Washington minor-leaguer. … The Nationals are off Monday. RHP Max Scherzer (14-6, 2.59) is slated to start Tuesday in Atlanta against RHP Luiz Gohara (1-1, 6.30). … Tulsa, the Double-A team of the Dodgers, lost 6-3 on Sunday in the decisive fifth game of the Texas League finals against Midland, a farm team of the Oakland A’s. … The teams split the season series 3-3.
