Ian Desmond hits 2 HRs in Nats’ win over Dodgers

LOS ANGELES – Somebody asked Yasiel Puig if he remembers the last time he drove in five runs in a game.

The Dodgers welcome backed reliever Yimi Garcia on Tuesday. He’s had an historic 2015 season, and it’s why he’s the clear choice as the Nationals’ team MVP. He lowered his major league-leading ERA to 1.65. Not easy, that’s for sure. “He’s walking fine, but he’s got some limited mobility”. White Sox starter Chris Sale returned to All-Star form after yielding 14 earned runs while losing his previous two outings.

It came two batters after an Andre Ethier triple that should have been a double that was nearly a TOOTBLAN (the Dodgers won a review!!) to lead off the inning.

Ranking 12th in home runs, Washington has hit 112 this season. Ethier found out Taylor has a cannon that rivals Puig’s. The Dodgers could badly use an offensive player or two to get hot and carry them where they want to go.

Shortstop Ian Desmond homered twice and Gonzalez tossed eight shutout innings, sparking the Nationals to an 8-3 romp over the Dodgers before 45,722 at Dodger Stadium.

“I’ve been having trouble connecting lately”, Puig said.

Clint Robinson is starting in right field and batting cleanup versus Dodgers righty Zack Greinke.

Consecutive singles from Jimmy Rollins and Alberto Callaspo to start the fifth followed by a two-out walk to Yasmani Grandal set up another big stage for Puig. “It’s going to take time, and then we’ll see where I’m at”.

Because the second half of the season rolls on, no first-place staff within the Nationwide League holds greater than a five-game lead of their respective divisions, establishing what might be a wild end to the common season. But as the non-waiver trade deadline neared, the Dodgers reportedly informed interested teams that Puig would be available for trade if the return was high enough. The Nationals’ lineup is a lot less imposing without Bryce Harper, who was a late scratch with tightness in his knee. The Dodgers lost Game 1 against the Nationals in Game 1 on Monday evening with a score of 3-8.

Dodgers second baseman Howie Kendrick was placed on the 15-day disabled list less than 24 hours after straining his left hamstring running out an infield hit. With Kershaw experiencing a dip in manufacturing, the 31-year-old has put the Dodgers employees on his again with an 11-2 document, an NL-best 1.71 ERA, 136 strikeouts, zero. “I can’t finish my pitches and the release point is an issue”, Peralta said. But Mattingly became more animated when talking about the adjustments Puig has made with hitting coaches Mark McGwire and John Valentin. He faced 100 righties before surrendering an extra-base hit.

It was the last pitch Ross (3-4, 3.44) threw.

“I wasn’t able to get anybody out”, Anderson said. “He made some good pitches, but we did a good job of laying off some of those balls low in the zone and try to make him elevate the ball”.