Freddie Freeman hit a home run among his four hits, Tony Gonsolin went six strong innings and the Los Angeles Dodgers earned a 9-3 victory over the visiting Washington Nationals on Tuesday.
Jason Heyward and J.D. Martinez also hit home runs while Freeman extended his hitting streak to 19 games, the third-longest run of his career, as the Dodgers won for the 13th time in their last 14 home games.
Gonsolin (3-1) gave up one run on three hits with two walks and two strikeouts as he avenged a loss to the Nationals last season, his only setback while crafting a 16-1 record in 2022.
Keibert Ruiz hit a home run for the Nationals, connecting against the team that traded him away in 2021. Right-hander Jake Irvin (1-3) gave up four runs over five innings for Washington, which lost its third consecutive game.
Heyward hit a home run to center field, his sixth on the season, to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead in the second inning.
Ildemaro Vargas and Lane Thomas both singled to open the third inning for the Nationals and Joey Meneses delivered an RBI single against Gonsolin to tie the game 1-1. Thomas had two hits while extending his hitting streak to 15 games and his on-base streak to 26.
The Dodgers jumped in front 4-1 with a three-run third inning. Mookie Betts and Freeman opened with singles and Max Muncy hit a ground-rule double for a run. Martinez had a sacrifice fly for another run and Heyward had an RBI single.
After Gonsolin retired the last 11 batters he faced, the Nationals scored a pair of runs against left-hander Alex Vesia in the seventh. Ruiz hit Vesia's first pitch after Vesia returned from Triple-A into the seats in left field. A double from Thomas and an RBI single by Luis Garcia got Washington within a run.
The Dodgers got the runs back to take a 6-3 lead in the seventh inning on a two-run blast from Martinez, his 12th homer. Freeman's 10th home run of the season in the eighth, a solo shot, was part of a three-run outburst.
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