Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani prepares to bat during the sixth inning of the team's MLB game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park, Wednesday, April 24, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
WASHINGTON – Shohei Ohtani hit three doubles to improve his major league-leading batting average to .371, rookie Landon Knack got his first win and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Washington Nationals 11-2 in MLB action on Wednesday night .
The Dodgers had a season-high 20 hits en route to their third straight win, with Mookie Betts and Will Smith each having four hits and Andy Pages homering.
Nick Senzel was honored by Washington. The Nationals had no baserunner after the second inning.
Ohtani was 3-for-6, hitting RBI doubles in the eighth and ninth innings. He leads the majors in slugging percentage (.695), OPS (1.128), extra-base hits (21) and doubles (14). He is hitting .429 during his nine-game hitting streak.
READ: Ohtani passes Matsui for most MLB home runs by Japanese player
“His average exit velocity on the balls he puts in play, he has to be in a category by himself,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “The ball does different things when it leaves the bat.”
A night after hitting a 118.7 mph solo pitch in the ninth inning — the hardest home run of his career — Ohtani hit a 115.6 mph double to right center in the first inning off Jake Irvin (1-2 ). Ohtani came up two batters later on Smith's single.
Betts increased the lead to 3-0 in the second on a one-run single against a tying infield.
Senzel led off the Nationals' second with a home run into the bushes of the visiting bullpen in left. Washington then scored again without putting the ball on the plane, sandwiching two walks around a hit batter before Joey Meneses got the run going with a walk.
READ: MLB: Shohei Ohtani delivers for Dodgers in home opener
That's all the Nationals got against Knack (1-1), who lost in their opener against Washington last week. Knack retired his last 13 batters and struck out five in six innings.
“I was kind of running out of bounds,” Knack said of his second inning. “I'm a guy that really needs to be more north and south with everything, so it was basically just trying to get everything back instead of trying to be too perfect, especially with the slider and the changeup. I was just trying to figure it out and execute quickly.”
Max Muncy hit an RBI single in the third and Lux chased Irvin with a two-out, two-run single in the fifth. Irvin allowed six runs on 12 hits in 4 2/3 innings while striking out three.
“He made good shots sometimes,” Washington coach Dave Martinez said. “He just didn’t have any consistency today. He fell behind and that’s what got him.”
Pages scored a single in the eighth off Tanner Rainey, and Betts and Ohtani followed with back-to-back doubles to score another run.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Dodgers: RHP Blake Treinen (bruised lung) allowed three runs while driving in one on Tuesday in his first rehab appearance for Triple-A Oklahoma City. … RHP Walker Buehler (elbow) allowed five runs (three earned) and struck out five in four innings Wednesday for Oklahoma City.
Nationals: Washington placed OF Lane Thomas (sprained left MCL) on the 10-day injured list and recalled INF Trey Lipscomb from Triple-A Rochester. Thomas was injured stealing second base in the fifth inning on Monday.
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UPCOMING MLB SCHEDULE
Los Angeles RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto (1-1, 4.50 ERA) was set to face Washington for the first time on Thursday, while the Nationals were scheduled to start LHP MacKenzie Gore (2-1, 3.60) in the final of three-game series.
