Pederson homers twice, Maeda cruises, Dodgers beat Nats 5-0

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Joc Pederson hit two home runs, Kenta Maeda pitched one-hit ball over six innings and the Los Angeles Dodgers cruised past the Washington Nationals 5-0 Friday night.

The Dodgers won without shortstop Corey Seager, who was scratched shortly before first pitch for undisclosed reasons. Los Angeles was blanked 6-0 Thursday in the opener of the four-game series, a loss that ended its 10-game home winning streak.

Julio Urías pitched three innings of scoreless relief for his second career save.

Anibal Sanchez (0-6) allowed three runs and six hits in 4 1/3 innings, including both of Pederson’s homers.

Pederson hit his 14th career leadoff homer in the first inning, tying Rafael Furcal for second on the team’s career list. He struck again in the fifth, putting a ball in the back of Washington’s bullpen for his 12th of the season. Pederson has 11 career multihomer games and three this season.

Maeda (4-2) struck out six and walked two. Wilmer Difo had the only hit against him, a single leading off the third.

The Dodgers also got an RBI triple from Chris Taylor in the fourth on a ball misplayed by right fielder Adam Eaton.

David Freese added a two-run homer in the seventh off reliever Matt Grace to give the Dodgers 39 home runs at home this season.

Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy preserved the shutout with two outs in the eighth with a diving stop on Anthony Rendon’s hard, bases-loaded grounder down the line. Muncy got to his feet and dived to third base for a forceout.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Nationals: LF Juan Soto, on the 10-day injured list with back spasms, took batting practice and ran the bases. He is expected to be activated before Saturday’s game.

Dodgers: LHP Caleb Ferguson started a rehab assignment at Class A Rancho Cucamonga following an oblique strain. Ferguson struck out two and walked one in a scoreless inning.

UP NEXT

Nationals: The Nationals are 1-7 this season in games started by RHP Max Scherzer (1-4, 3.78 ERA), including five straight losses. That’s the longest such skid for Scherzer’s teams in his starts since a six-game slide for Arizona and Detroit spanning the 2009 and ’10 seasons.

Dodgers: RHP Walker Buehler (4-0, 4.95) hit 99 mph for the first time this season in his start Monday against the Braves and also reached 100 pitches for the first time.