After dropping the first game of the doubleheader on Wednesday, the Dodgers salvaged a split with the Nationals by winning the second game, 7-6.
Los Angeles appeared to be cruising to an easy win, but ended up needing a late Matt Kemp home run to secure the win. The Dodgers jumped out to a 6-0 lead with three runs in the third inning and three more in the fourth. That appeared to be plenty of run support for Josh Beckett, who cruised through the first seven innings.
Beckett held the Nationals to just two hits and no runs through seven innings, but ran into trouble in the bottom of the eighth inning. Michael Morse and Stephen Lombardozzi hit home runs to cut the lead to 6-3 and chase Beckett from the game. Randy Choate came in and gave up two hits without recording an out. After leading off the inning with a home run, Morse capped the six-run inning with an RBI single.
After blowing the six-run lead, the Dodgers looked to be in jeapordy of losing their third straight game, but Kemp led off the ninth inning with his 19th home run of the year. Brandon League pictched a perfect bottom of the ninth to record his third save with the Dodgers.
With the win, the Dodgers kept pace with the Braves and Cardinals in NL Wild Card race. Both St. Louis and Atlanta won on Wednesday, leaving the Dodgers two games back of the second Wild Card spot.
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