Washington Nationals come up empty in 6-0 loss to Los Angeles Dodgers in NLDS opener

Patrick Corbin walked four batters in the first inning of his first career postseason start, to force in the first run of the game for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and his fifth walk ended up scoring as well for the second run for the home team as LA took the Game 1 of their NLDS matchup tonight in Dodger Stadium by a final score of 6-0.

Walker Buehler held Nationals’ hitters to one hit over six scoreless, and the Dodger bullpen locked down the shutout win in the series opener.

Corbin vs LA: Patrick Corbin tossed seven scoreless innings against the Dodgers when he faced them in LA back in May, giving up three hits and four walks, but no runs, striking out eight of the 27 batters he faced in a 107-pitch outing in Dodger Stadium.

Corbin generated 12 swinging strikes and four called strikes with the 44 sliders he threw to the Dodgers, and 20 swings and misses and 16 called strikes overall in that start on the road in Chavez Ravine.

“Slider was on all day,” Corbin told reporters in LA, as quoted by MASN’s Byron Kerr.

“I felt it today and was able to get ahead of guys, and a couple big double plays that they turned behind me to get me out of a couple jams. But overall, felt great.”

Going up against the Dodgers again tonight in the series opener of the NLDS, Corbin gave up four walks in the first, loading the bases with two outs, and forcing in the first run of the NLDS, 1-0, before he got out of a 31-pitch first inning.

Corbin was up to just 58 after three innings, however, as he settled in and calmed things down, striking out five of the first 14 batters he faced.

It was still 1-0 LA in the fourth, when Max Muncy and Corey Seager started the inning with back-to-back singles that put runners on the corners with no one out, but back-to-back Ks got Corbin close to escaping the jam, and a grounder to third ended the threat.

A two-out walk to Cody Bellinger in the fifth was Corbin’s 5th of the night, and a two-out single by Chris Taylor put runners on the corners for Max Muncy, who sent a ground ball through Howie Kendrick at first to bring in a run before Taylor got thrown out at home to end the inning, 2-0. E:3 on the play.

Corbin came back out for the sixth at 98 pitches, and retired the Dodgers in order in a quick, nine-pitch frame which left him at 107 total.

Patrick Corbin’s Line: 6.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 5 BB, 9 Ks, 107 P, 62 S, 6/3 GO/FO.

Buehler vs D.C.: Walker Buehler surrendered eight hits, three walks, and seven runs, four of them earned, in 5 ¹⁄₃ IP against the Nationals in the nation’s capital in late July, but when he started against Washington in LA back in May, the 25-year-old right-hander tossed a total of seven scoreless innings, giving up four hits and a walk but no runs in a 5-2 loss in which he received no decision.

Buehler finished up his third big league campaign with a (3-1) month of September, posting a 4.50 ERA, nine walks, 30 Ks, and a .231/.291/.423 line against in his final 28 regular season innings on the mound.

Given a 1-0 lead to work with after one, Buehler tossed four scoreless innings on 76 pitches, working out of a bases-loaded jam in a 26-pitch fourth in his first real bit of adversity on the night.

An 11-pitch, 1-2-3 fifth left Buehler at 87 pitches overall after five scoreless, and he took the mound with a 2-0 lead in the sixth and retired the side in order in a 13-pitch frame that was his last...

Walker Buehler’s Line: 6.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 8 Ks, 100 P, 62 S, 4/3 GO/FO.

LA again: Washington and Los Angeles met in the NLDS in 2016, with the Dodgers coming out on top 3-2 in the five-game series, and this season they took four of seven games from the Nationals, splitting a four-game set in Chavez Ravine in May before winning 2 of 3 back in August in D.C.

Corbin’s #s vs the Dodgers: Patrick Corbin made 19 starts and 21 appearances against the Dodgers in his career before tonight, and going into the game, the left-hander had a 3.36 ERA against LA in his career, with a 0.59 ERA in his previous five starts and 30 ¹⁄₃ IP against the Dodgers, over which he’d held opposing hitters to a .127 BAA (13 for 102).

Corbin gave up two earned runs in those five starts and 30 ¹⁄₃ IP, but the Dodgers scored two runs (one earned) over six innings against him tonight.

BULLPEN ACTION: Adam Kolarek came out of the bullpen for the Dodgers in the top of the seventh inning, and retired the one batter he faced, Juan Soto, before Kenta Maeda retired two batters to complete a scoreless seventh, still 2-0 LA.

Tanner Rainey gave up a one-out walk to Joc Pederson and a single by Justin Turner before he was lifted in favor of Fernando Rodney, who took over with runners on the corners and Cody Bellinger at the plate and got Bellinger looking with a 2-2 fastball for out No. 2. Chris Taylor stepped in with two down and worked the count full before walking to load’em up.

Max Muncy came up with the bases loaded and lined a two-run single to right to make it a 4-0 game.

Maeda came back out for the top of the eighth with a four-run lead and retired the side in order to keep it 4-0 Dodgers.

Hunter Strickland gave up a one-out solo home run by pinch hitter Gavin Lux on a 95 MPH 2-1 fastball that went out to right-center field, 5-0, and Joc Pederson bounced one off the top ¹⁄₃ of the foul pole in right for the second solo shot of the inning and a 6-0 Dodger lead.

Joe Kelly gave up a leadoff double by Trea Turner in the top of the ninth, but stranded him at third three outs later...

Final Score: 6-0 Dodgers

Nats trail 1-0 in the NLDS