Dodgers beat Nationals 7-6 for split of DH

By Howard Fendrich

Associated Press

Published: Wednesday, Sept. 19 2012 8:50 p.m. MDT

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Washington Nationals starting pitcher John Lannan, left, wraps his arm with a towel during the second inning of the second baseball game of a doubleheader against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Nationals Park, Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2012, in Washington.

Alex Brandon, Associated Press

Summary

Matt Kemp scored a phantom run early, then hit a go-ahead homer in the ninth inning — right after Washington rallied with a six-run eighth — and the struggling Los Angeles Dodgers grabbed a 7-6 victory Wednesday night for a doubleheader split that prevented the Nationals from sewing up a playoff berth.

WASHINGTON — Matt Kemp scored a phantom run early, then hit a go-ahead homer in the ninth inning — right after Washington rallied with a six-run eighth — and the struggling Los Angeles Dodgers grabbed a 7-6 victory Wednesday night for a doubleheader split that prevented the Nationals from sewing up a playoff berth.

Kemp was credited with crossing home to give Los Angeles a 6-0 lead in the fourth, even though TV replays showed the inning's last out already had been recorded on third baseman Ryan Zimmerman's head-over-heels, reaching tag of runner Adrian Gonzalez.

That extra run loomed large when the hosts — who had won the day's opener 3-1 thanks largely to Jordan Zimmermann's six innings of one-run baseball — wound up sending 12 batters to the plate to score six runs and make it 6-all.

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