James Wood and the host Washington Nationals will go for an improbable three-game sweep of the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday afternoon.
Behind Wood’s two home runs and five RBIs, the Nationals defeated the Dodgers 8-2 on Tuesday night for their fourth straight win after they lost six of seven to open the season.
“I just think it kind of proves we’re really not far,” Wood said. “Even when we were losing games, we weren’t off by much. Being able to put these games together, I think it just proves that.”
Wood has been a big part of that effort. In addition to the home runs on Tuesday, he singled and drew a bases-loaded walk to improve his batting average to .275. In Monday’s 6-4 Washington win, he went 1-for-3 with a walk, a stolen base and a two-run homer.
“He’s totally engaged when it comes to hitting,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. “He has a plan every time he goes up there, every at-bat. And he understands the strike zone. And he continues to get better.”
The Dodgers, meanwhile, have lost three straight games and four of five after opening the season 8-0.
Andy Pages and Kike Hernandez homered to account for the Los Angeles runs on Tuesday. The Dodgers had eight hits and 15 strikeouts while lowering their season batting average to .230.
“Just kind of up and down the lineup, the at-bat quality, we’re just not having team at-bats,” manager Dave Roberts said. “The results are showing.”
Filling in for the injured Blake Snell, Triple-A callup Justin Wrobleski gave up eight runs in five innings and took the loss. The Dodgers got news in the sense that Snell (shoulder discomfort), who joined a group of injured pitchers on the team, should begin throwing again next week.
Los Angeles plans to call up right-hander Landon Knack (1-0, 0.00 ERA) to make a spot start. Knack pitched two innings of scoreless relief in his team’s 6-3 win over the Chicago Cubs on March 19.
“I don’t think that anyone expected us to go unscathed all year, whether it’s out of the pen or starter. It’s where we’re at,” Roberts told the Los Angeles Times. “But I do think that we knew that we had a lot of viable options to backfill.”
Keibert Ruiz, Jacob Young and Dylan Crews had two hits each for Washington on Tuesday. Ruiz had a two-out, two-run single that put the Nationals up 5-0 in the second.
Right-hander Jake Irvin (0-0, 5.40 ERA) will make his third start of the season for Washington in the finale. Last time out, he allowed four runs on seven hits in five innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks in a 6-4 loss on Friday. He allowed baserunners in every inning but the second.
In 10 innings this season, Irvin has allowed six runs, including three home runs.
“I have to be a lot smarter and better in certain situations,” he said after his last start. “The offense put three together in the first. It’s my job to shut down after that. Didn’t do it.”
Irvin is 1-2 with a 4.57 ERA in four career starts against the Dodgers.
