WASHINGTON _ Rich Hill was a different man the last time he saw Washington Nationals catcher Jose Lobaton. It was three years ago. Hill was a reliever, clawing at the fringes of the sport, when Lobaton recorded his third hit in three at-bats against him. The two men would not meet again until Sunday afternoon at Nationals Park.
During the intervening years, Hill rebuilt himself into a left-handed artist, a pitcher the Los Angeles Dodgers were willing to mortgage multiple prospects to acquire this summer, a pitcher the team decided to trust for Game 2 of the National League division series. He turned himself from a punching bag into a pillar.
But a transformation cannot override the danger of a hanging curveball.
In the fourth inning Sunday, Hill watched his primary pitch float toward the plate. Lobaton delivered a hit far more concussive than his previous three against Hill. The three-run homer handed the Nationals a lead they never lost in a 5-2 victory, blunted the momentum of the Dodgers and heightened the scrutiny on an offense that stranded 12 runners.
Up two runs when the ball left Hill's hand, the Dodgers could not recover, and will fly back to Los Angeles with the series tied at a game apiece. There is little time to mourn. Kenta Maeda will throw Game 3's first pitch at 1:08 p.m. Pacific time, with the schedule compacted by Saturday's rainout, as the Dodgers confront a man capable of exploiting their offensive Achilles heel: Gio Gonzalez, a left-handed pitcher.
After mesmerizing the Nationals for three innings, Hill hung that curveball in the fourth and could not finish the fifth. Washington taxed him for four runs. Nationals second baseman Daniel Murphy, who had an RBI single in the fifth off Hill, supplied insurance with an run-scoring single in the seventh against reliever Grant Dayton.
By then, the outcome appeared solidified. The offense responded to the deficit with capitulation, batting one for nine with runners in scoring position. The group supplied zero hits against the Nationals' mid-game relief contingent of Marc Rzepczynski, Sammy Solis, Blake Treinen and Oliver Perez.
The rain expected to ruin Saturday evening never materialized. But wind whipped through the ballpark. Gusts swirled as the Dodgers took batting practice. Manager Dave Roberts sought out rookie outfielder Andrew Toles, clad in a beanie to ward off the briskness, to explain how the weather might affect fly balls.
"It definitely plays a factor in the communication," Roberts said.
The wind could not keep Corey Seager in the park. On his second pitch of the game, Nationals starter Tanner Roark flung a fastball over Seager's head. Seager ducked. He was unsure if the cause was Roark's skittishness or an attempt at intimidation.
Seager waited three pitches to answer. Forced to throw a 3-0 strike, Roark laid a fastball down the middle. Seager powered it over the fence in right-center field, just beyond a Nationals sign that read "One Pursuit."
Hill breezed through the first inning, striking out the side, but bumped into trouble in the second. Murphy led off with a single. Hill failed to settle his curveball into the zone against first baseman Ryan Zimmerman, who walked on five pitches. When Hill drilled struggling shortstop Danny Espinosa in the hand with a pitch, Hill was the only one screaming.
The bases were loaded for Lobaton. He came to the plate with only one hit against left-handed pitchers this season. He would soon make two outs with one swing.
Lobaton chopped a curve back to the mound. Hill knocked it down and shuttled it back to the plate like a quarterback running the option. Yasmani Grandal fired to first base to secure the 1-2-3 double play. Hill pumped his fist as he loped into the dugout.
Another miscue from Lobaton aided the Dodgers in the third. The sequence started with a leadoff walk by Justin Turner, who hung with Roark after falling behind, 0-2. Adrian Gonzalez followed with a single. Josh Reddick added a single of his own, and the Dodgers tried to take advantage of a perceived weakness with Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper.
There have been conflicting reports about the health of Harper's right shoulder, a crucial asset for a player with a throwing arm of his magnitude. Third-base coach Chris Woodward took a gamble. He sent Turner from second base, then watched as Harper rifled the ball toward Lobaton.
The throw drew Lobaton back toward the first-base line. He spun to find Turner, except the ball bounced off his shin guard. Unware of that, Turner played pattycake with the plate, avoiding Lobaton's glove as he touched home.
Hill continued to roll. He dipped into a sidearm slot for a curveball to strike out Harper in the third. With first base occupied by Trea Turner, the Nationals fleet-footed rookie, he paused his delivery before snapping another curve that froze outfielder Jayson Werth for Hill's seventh strikeout in three innings.
The spell broke in the fourth. Murphy took a walk, then waited at first during a pair of flyouts. Hill remained unable to control his fastball against Espinosa, who was victimized for three crucial strikeouts by Clayton Kershaw in Game 1. Hill clipped Espinosa in the foot with a fastball, putting two on for Lobaton.
Hill fed Lobaton a 1-1 bender at the belt. Lobaton deposited it in the Dodgers' bullpen, awakening the crowd in the process. Afterward, he climbed his dugout steps for a curtain call.
The homer forced the Dodgers to regret missed opportunities earlier in the day. The team left the bases loaded in the second inning. Grandal grounded into a double play with the bases loaded in the third. Two innings later, the offense filled the bases once more, only to watch Grandal strike out against left-handed reliever Rzepczynski and Howie Kendrick line out.
Through five innings, the Dodgers stranded nine men. The number hung on the scoreboard in right field, taunting the team from afar. It would only increase. The number of runs would not.
