Dodgers 4, Nationals 2
WASHINGTON -- All-Star left-hander Clayton Kershaw, pitching in the shadows late in the afternoon, struck out a season-high 14 batters with no walks and allowed three singles in eight innings as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Washington Nationals 4-2 on Saturday before a sellout crowd of 41,426.
In the suspended game that ended earlier Saturday, the Nationals won, 5-3, when pinch-hitter Matt den Dekker hit a tie-breaking two-run home run in the eighth inning.
It was the 15th win in 21 games for Washington.
But the Nationals were no match for Kershaw (7-6) later in the day, as he fanned two batters in each of the first seven innings. He struck out right fielder Bryce Harper, a fellow All-Star, all three times.
Kershaw leads the National League with 174 strikeouts and has fanned 27 batters in his last two starts with no walks. His 100th pitch of the day was a curve at 73 mph for a called third strike against Matt Den Dekker with two out in the eighth.
Kenly Jansen pitched the ninth and gave up a two-run home run to Harper with one out, before Jansen got the last two outs to nail down the win.
Kershaw got more than enough offensive support. as third baseman Justin Turner and first baseman Adrian Gonzalez each had three hits, and second baseman Howie Kendrick and right fielder Yasiel Puig (two RBIs) each had two for the Dodgers.
The Dodgers (52-40), with 13 hits, improved to 11-7 against the National League East, while the Nationals (49-40) lost for only the third time in 12 games to a National League West team.
More bad news for the Nationals was that second baseman Danny Espinosa, a key player this season, left the game in the top of the ninth after diving for a single by Gonzalez.
The elite defender was favoring his left leg as he left.
The Dodgers broke open the game with three runs in the fifth against starter Doug Fister (3-5), who has won only once since May 3. Turner hit an RBI single to make it 1-0 and left fielder Andre Ethier drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. Puig followed with an RBI single to make it 4-0.
The Dodgers took a 1-0 lead in the second on an RBI infield single by Puig. His hit scored Gonzalez, who led off with a single and went to third on a solid single by Ethier.
Gonzalez, among the league leaders in several categories, has a hit in nine of his last 10 games at Nationals Park.
The Nationals are 4-8 in games started this year by Fister, who was 16-6 with an ERA of 2.41 last season for Washington, but now has an ERA of 4.30.
Fister gave up nine hits and four runs in five innings before Taylor Jordan took over in the sixth. Jordan pitched three scoreless innings before Sammy Solis retired the Dodgers in the ninth despite giving up two hits.
NOTES: Washington RHP Max Scherzer (10-7, 2.11 ERA) will face Dodgers RHP Zack Greinke (8-2, 1.39 ERA) in the series finale between All-Star pitchers on Sunday. ... Washington OF Bryce Harper entered Saturday leading MLB in on-base average (.465) and slugging (.701). ... Washington RHP Aaron Barrett is good friends with Preston Mattingly, son of Dodgers manager Don Mattingly. The younger Mattingly and Barrett, who exchanged hugs before Friday's series opener, grew up playing sports together in Evansville, Ind. ... Dodgers 1B Adrian Gonzalez entered Saturday with 295 RBI since Aug. 25, 2012, the most of any MLB player. ... The Dodgers signed first-round draft pick Walker Buehler of Vanderbilt on Friday. Los Angeles also signed sixth-round pick Edwin Rios and 30th-round selection Logan Crouse.