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Dodgers Fall Short Of Expectations In Season-Ending Game 5 Loss
Dodger stadium getting raucous before the late rally by the Nationals in Game 5 of the NLDS. (KHTS Sports/Andrew Menjivar)

Dodgers Fall Short Of Expectations In Season-Ending Game 5 Loss

The ghosts of Octobers past once again returned to haunt the Dodgers Wednesday night at Chavez Ravine, as the Dodgers lost 7-3 to the Washington Nationals in the deciding game five of the National League Divisional Series (NLDS).

“It’s one of those things that you can’t script,” said Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts. “Very disappointing is probably an understatement.”

Through the first seven innings, everything was going to script for the Dodgers. 

The Dodgers opened up the scoring in the first inning with a two-run homer from Max Muncy to the right field pavilion after Joc Pederson got to second on a ground rule double after his earlier deep shot got wedged into the fence of the Dodgers’ bullpen.

In the second, Kike Hernandez continued the Dodgers outburst with a solo-shot to leadoff the bottom of the inning and expand their lead to 3-0.

After 6 2/3 innings from Dodgers Pitcher Walker Buehler in which he gave up only one run and four hits, the run came late in the seventh and prompted Roberts to call the bullpen with a 3-1 lead.

“(Buehler is) really good. He’s going to be good for a long time; his stuff was nasty,” said Nationals Manager Dave Martinez. “You can only talk to the hitters about so much, but when he’s throwing his secondary pitches for strikes, he’s tough and he did that tonight. He was filthy.”

Longtime Dodger Clayton Kershaw relieved Buehler with two on and two out, and promptly retired Adam Eaton in three pitches, closing the inning and leaving the mound with a roar.

Dodgers Stadium was rocking at this point. A party atmosphere had set in over the crowd that perhaps was beginning to believe Kershaw had put his past playoff collapses behind him.

That’s when Kershaw returned to the mound to open the eighth inning. Three pitches later and the Dodgers faithful had been stunned into silence as the Nationals’ Anthony Rendon and Juan Soto each rocked Kershaw for a solo-shot to tie up the game at 3-3.

“He’s a pro. He’s probably the best pitcher of our generation,” Roberts said. “He got us out of a big spot right there and it just didn’t work out. And so there’s always going to be second guessing when things don’t work out. You know I’ll take my chances any day on Clayton, and it just didn’t work out right there.”

Kershaw was yanked and the Kenta Maeda helped the Dodgers escape the inning without any more damage. Despite Maeda’s effective inning, he was retired in favor of Joe Kelly in the ninth. 

Kelly threw a ten-pitch, scoreless ninth inning to take the Dodgers into extra innings and returned into the mound the tenth. Three batters later and Kelly had loaded the bases with no outs facing Howie Kendrick. 

With a swing of his bat, Kendrick knocked out a go-ahead grand slam, at once ending the Dodgers’ postseason hopes and washing away the luster surrounding a Dodgers team that had set a franchise record for regular-season wins. 

The Dodgers had no response in the bottom of the tenth, falling 7-3 and making their earliest playoff exit since 2015.

Undoubtedly the Dodgers now face a number of questions as they go into the offseason coming off the disappointing loss. Roberts has been pointed to for mismanaging in the postseason, Pitchers Hyun-Jin Ryu and Rich Hill are both free agents and President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman is up for a new contract.

How the Dodgers move forward no one can be sure, but one thing is certain: they won’t be moving on to the next round.

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Dodgers Fall Short Of Expectations In Season-Ending Game 5 Loss

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About Wyatt Smith

Wyatt was born and raised in Santa Clarita. After graduating from Hart High School in 2012, he continued his studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he earned a degree in applied statistics. After a year and a half working in the digital advertising industry, Wyatt left his previous field of work to pursue his interest in writing.