Dodgers Beat Nationals in Game 1 of NLDS

By Djack

Kershaw vs Schezer, could you ask for more fire power out of a pitching matchup. This series is going to 5 games I'll tell you that right now, these teams are so evenly matched that this series could really go either way. They both have good starting pitching backed by solid bullpens, and they both have a few bats that are very deadly. All of these factors came into play tonight, the scoring got off to an early start when one of the dodgers big bats, Corey Seager, hit a solo home run, the first of his promising young career. Max Schezer's fatal inning was the third where he would allow three runs, one coming off a Chase Utley RBI, and the other two coming from a Justin Turner home run. The Dodgers had an early 4-0 lead and the Nationals had to get some of those runs back quick. They would do just that, Anthony Rendon would hit a 2 RBI double in the bottom of the third to cut the lead in half. The Nats would pull within one run the next inning on a sacrifice fly by Trea Turner. Max Schezer would finish strong not allowing a run after the third, he threw 6 innings, had 5 strikeouts, and unfortunately let up one too many runs. Kershaw only threw 5 innings and allowed three runs in those 5 innings so he didn't have even close to one of his better games, but he handed the game over to his bullpen with a lead. The Dodgers bullpen was the real MVP of this game throwing 4 scoreless innings to secure a game 1 victory. Kenley Jansen picked up a gutsy 5 out save to  shut the door and help the Dodgers steal a game on the road. So in review, the starting pitching matchup was pretty even, but I'll give Kershaw the slight advantage because he didn't let up two home runs, and he was able to hold the lead before giving the game off to his bullpen. The Bullpens were dead even as neither of them let up a run, to be honest the bullpens pitched way more effectively than these big name stud starting pitchers. The difference was the Dodgers big bats stepped up and the Nationals big bats didn't. Seager and Turner the two guys that carried the Dodgers offense in the second half of the season, continued to carry them tonight as they both hit home runs. Daniel Murphy, Jayson Werth, and Bryce Harper didn't do anything all that special in this game, as a matter of fact they went a combined 3 for 12, and they didn't contribute any RBI's. This is October baby, if you're big name players aren't showing up, you're team will be back on their couch in no time. Nationals need to win game 2, last thing they want to  do is go to LA down 2 games to nothing.