Dodgers use late surge to pull away from Nationals

Pinch hitter James Outman doubled in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning and Shohei Ohtani homered to lead off the ninth inning as the Los Angeles Dodgers used late offense to defeat the host Washington Nationals 4-1 on Tuesday night in the opener of a three-game series.

Freddie Freeman and Miguel Rojas each had two hits as the Dodgers played their first game of a nine-game road trip. Ohtani has six home runs this season, with his blast going an estimated 450 feet into the upper deck beyond right field. He has homered in back-to-back games for the second time this season.

Evan Phillips issued consecutive walks to put two Washington two runners on in the ninth, but Luis Garcia Jr. was caught in a rundown between third base and the plate after CJ Abrams' single. But Eddie Rosario walked to load the bases before Jesse Winker struck out.

Phillips notched his sixth save. Washington left 11 runners on base.

Alex Vesia (1-2) was the winning pitcher, throwing 1 1/3 innings of relief. Dodgers starter James Paxton went 4 2/3 innings, giving up one run on five hits and three walks with one strikeout.

Nationals starter Patrick Corbin pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings with three hits, three walks and three strikeouts. The bullpen failed to protect the lead. Hunter Harvey (1-1) took the loss after he was charged with both eighth-inning runs. Matt Barnes surrendered Ohtani's homer.

Abrams had three of the seven hits for the Nationals, who were trying to get back to .500.

Washington's run came in the second on Jacob Young's one-out bunt single. Luis Vargas, who led off with a double, scored the run.

The Dodgers pulled even in the sixth on Enrique Hernandez's run-scoring single.

In the eighth, Teoscar Hernandez reached on a walk and scored on Outman's double. Then, Rojas knocked in Outman with a two-out single to give Los Angeles a 3-1 lead.

—Field Level Media