Washington Nationals infielder Howie Kendrick shouldered some of the blame for Sunday’s 10-4 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 3 of the NLDS.
No, Kendrick had nothing to do with the pitching situation, as Patrick Corbin and Wander Suero combined to allow seven Dodgers runs in the sixth inning. But Kendrick got himself caught on the basepath in the bottom of that inning, and had he played it safe, Washington could have extended a rally to answer Los Angeles’.
With the bases full and no outs, Asdrúbal Cabrera hit a sacrifice fly to right and Juan Soto scored from third. But Kendrick hesitated for a split second before breaking for third, and the Dodgers were able to tag him out for a 9-3-5 double play.
“You know what? I should have trusted my instincts to be honest with you,” Kendrick told reporters. “My first instincts were right, I kind of shut it down a little bit, went back to the bag. At that point, I should have just stopped and stayed there. Kind of helped them out of the inning there and sometimes those little things are what kills rallies.”
The Nationals were not able to score after that play. Manager Dave Martinez said Kendrick was trying to be “overly aggressive.
“He started, stopped, then started again. For me, if he had went right away, he makes it. Once you stop, then that’s it, you’ve gotta get back. He knew that. He’s a veteran guy. Yeah, it was frustrating.”
Kendrick has started every playoff game at either first or second base for Washington. Game 4 is Monday at 6:40 p.m., with the Dodgers a win away from knocking the Nationals out and advancing to the NLCS.
• Adam Zielonka can be reached at azielonka@washingtontimes.com.
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