Nationals tap into their power game to defeat Dodgers 7-3

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nathaniel Lowe hit two of Washington's five home runs and the Nationals beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-3 on Saturday night.

James Wood, CJ Abrams and Luis García Jr. also went deep for the Nationals, who won a road game for the first time this month. They are 2-12 in their past 14 games overall.

Jake Irvin (6-3) worked around two homers and six hits in 5 1/3 innings to win for the first time in four starts. He struck out seven.

Three relievers held the Dodgers to one hit over the final 3 2/3 innings. Keibert Ruiz went 3 for 3 with a sacrifice fly for Washington.

Andy Pages, Will Smith and Teoscar Hernandez homered for the Dodgers, who dropped to 9-4 since June 8. Dustin May (4-5) gave up three home runs in six innings.

Wood and García connected on May's first two pitches in the fourth. Wood has a team-best 21 home runs, including four against the Dodgers in five games.

Los Angeles pulled to 2-1 in the fifth on Pages’ home run. Lowe went deep in the sixth and Smith homered in the bottom half to make it 3-2. Abrams launched a two-run drive off left-hander Jack Dreyer in the seventh for a 5-2 advantage.

Lowe’s solo shot in the eighth gave him his first multihomer game this season.

Key moment

Smith's homer pulled the Dodgers to 3-2 in the sixth, but Irvin rebounded to strike out Hernández — the last batter he faced.

Key stat

The Nationals have eight home runs in two games after they entered the series with 72, which ranked in the bottom third of MLB clubs.

Up next

Dodgers RHP Shohei Ohtani (0-0, 9.00 ERA) starts against Washington RHP Michael Soroka (3-5, 5.06) on Sunday.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb