LOS ANGELES _ The door cracked open for the Los Angeles Dodgers in the seventh inning Friday when Sean Doolittle, not Stephen Strasburg, appeared on the mound at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers, gasping for six innings opposite Strasburg, had reached their destination. They had nine outs to prey on the Washington Nationals' dreadful bullpen and steal Game 2 of the National League Division Series.
It was wide open when Corey Seager stepped into the batter's box with the bases loaded and two outs in the ninth inning. The rejuvenated Daniel Hudson, a Dodger last season, was on the mound. A clash ensued.
After taking a called strike, Seager fouled off the next three pitches. He took the next two for balls and fouled off the seventh pitch. All seven pitches were fastballs. The seventh was a slider that darted in on Seager's hands. Seager swung through it for strike three to conclude the Dodgers' failed comeback attempt in a 4-2 loss.
The Dodgers' offensive game plan was elementary in theory: force Strasburg to throw excess pitches and test his limits. The best way to beat the Nationals, as they accomplished in Game 1 Thursday, is to expose the team's glaring weakness: the middle relief.
The Nationals, clawing to avoid facing elimination, exhausted their best options in unprecedented fashion to sidestep their biggest problem. Doolittle, the closer to begin the season, was summoned two innings early. Scherzer, a three-time Cy Young Award winner, was deployed for the eighth inning. The ninth went to Hudson.
Doolittle, a left-hander, was summoned with left-handed hitters Cody Bellinger and Max Muncy due up. Doolittle outlasted Bellinger, striking him out on eight pitches. His ninth pitch was a 95-mph fastball down the middle that Muncy demolished. The ball traveled 413 feet into the right field pavilion. Muncy flipped his bat to the infield grass a few feet in front of him. The Dodgers had eight outs to produce one more run. Doolittle concluded the eighth inning without stumbling again to dwindle the expiration number to six.
The next three outs came in succession in a cameo appearance by Max Scherzer. The right-hander, pitching after logging five innings in Tuesday's Wild Card game, was given the eighth inning. He struck out the three batters he encountered on 14 pitches.
Hudson was called on for the ninth inning. Justin Turner welcomed him with a ground-rule double. Hudson retired the next two hitters before issuing an intentional walk to Muncy and Will Smith drew a walk to load the bases with two outs for Seager.
A comeback was necessary after Strasburg outpitched Clayton Kershaw.
Kershaw's early-game struggles from the regular season _ he compiled a 5.79 ERA in the first game _ seeped into Friday. The Nationals ambushed him for a run in the first inning and two more in the second. He plunked two of the first eight batters he faced after hitting two of 706 batters during the regular season. He needed 44 pitches to secure six outs.
And as he did in most of his regular season starts, Kershaw discovered a grooved after the turbulence. The left-hander retired 13 of the final 15 batters he faced after Anthony Rendon's two-out double in the second inning. He managed to complete six innings on 99 pitches. He struck out four and walked one.
One of the few questions remaining over the final month of the Dodgers' regular season was how they would line up their starting pitchers for the National League Division Series. Kershaw, Walker Buehler, and Hyun-Jin Ryu were largely interchangeable. The decision was relayed to the players at the beginning the week. Buehler was given Game 1. Kershaw was assigned Game 2. Game 3 fell to Ryu.
It was the second straight October Kershaw was tasked Game 2. Last season, it was a stunning decision. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said it was easier to sell Kershaw, whose playoff history doesn't inspire confidence, on the idea this year.
"It's hard to get his respect and so you get good respect by, not necessarily longevity, but by performance," Roberts said. "And so I think that with Walker's track record, albeit short, what he's done over this sample, has shown Clayton that it's justified."
Buehler further proved his standing as the club's big-game pitcher with six scoreless innings Thursday. Kershaw held the Nationals scoreless for five batters Friday.
Trea Turner smacked the game's first pitch, a 91-mph fastball in off the plate, past a diving Turner down the left-field line for a double. The Dodgers caught a break when Adam Eaton gave away his at-bat attempting to drop a sacrifice bunt. It was the only out Kershaw would secure before loading the bases with a walk and hit by pitch for Howie Kendrick. The former Dodger laced a one-out single through the hole on the left side for the game's first run.
The Nationals didn't score again, leaving the bases loaded, but added two more runs in the second frame. Kershaw ignited the trouble by plunking Victor Robles to lead off the inning. Adam Eaton knocked Robles home with a two-out single. Rendon cracked the next pitch for an RBI double to give Washington a 3-0 lead.
