After rain delay, Dodgers' 'pen comes up big

WASHINGTON -- The Dodgers have a bullpen game scheduled for Sunday. But they were forced to go to an impromptu bullpen game on Saturday.

Clayton Kershaw got the start for the Dodgers and the left-hander allowed three runs over four innings of work. Kershaw certainly had more in the tank, but a one-hour, 44-minute rain delay forced manager Dave Roberts to remove his ace after just 54 pitches.

Fortunately for the Dodgers, the bullpen stepped up to the challenge yet again, tossing five scoreless innings as L.A. extended its winning streak to eight with a 5-3 win over the Nationals at Nationals Park. The Dodgers have not lost a game since getting no-hit by the Cubs at Dodger Stadium last Thursday.

• Box score

“The bullpen came in tonight and got some huge outs for us,” said Roberts. “Just all around tonight, I thought it was a good team win.”

Following the delay, the Dodgers leaned on Brusdar Graterol in the fifth. The right-hander, who has struggled in his brief time in the Majors this year, had perhaps his best inning of the season, retiring the side and striking out two on just nine pitches. He used a 100 mph sinker to strike out Jon Lester, who was pinch-hitting for the injury-riddled Nationals.

In the top half of the sixth, the Dodgers’ offense showed off some more of the good mojo that has propelled them to the recent hot streak. They were able to scratch across the go-ahead run without a ball leaving the infield. Will Smith got hit by a pitch, Nats shortstop Alcides Escobar booted an easy double-play ball off the bat of Albert Pujols, and AJ Pollock drove in the winning run on an infield single that had an exit velocity of 65.1 mph. Chris Taylor tacked on in the ninth with an RBI single.

That was enough for the big arms in the Dodgers’ bullpen.

Joe Kelly, whom his teammates now refer to as “Joseph” -- his self-created strike-throwing alter ego -- struggled with his command on Saturday, loading the bases. But Kelly was able to settle down just in time, striking out Gerardo Parra with an 87 mph curveball. Kelly hasn’t allowed a run in his last nine outings.

Kelly passed the baton off to Phil Bickford, who got out of the seventh cleanly. Then it was up to Blake Treinen, who shut the door in the eighth. And as he’s done most of this season, Kenley Jansen got the job done in the ninth, working around traffic to record his 21st save of the season.

The efficient pitching from the Dodgers’ bullpen sets the team up nicely for Sunday’s scheduled bullpen game. David Price will likely start the game for the Dodgers, but he’ll be limited to about 40 pitches. Edwin Uceta, who will be activated before Sunday’s game, can also give the team length with Roberts saying the right-hander can throw up to 80 pitches, if needed.

But if the game is tight in the late innings, they should have plenty of options. Kelly threw 24 pitches, which means he’s likely unavailable on Sunday, while Graterol has pitched in back-to-back games. Other than that, the Dodgers should have enough weapons, including Treinen, Jansen and Victor González.

“It certainly wasn’t ideal,” Roberts said on having to go with a bullpen game on Saturday. “But we managed it and we’ll get through tomorrow and expect to win.”