More on Scherzer's start, Grace's hip and Solís' big escape

LOS ANGELES - Though he was the clear winner of Friday night's vaunted showdown with Clayton Kershaw, Max Scherzer wasn't exactly in peak form for the Nationals.

The reigning back-to-back National League Cy Young Award winner allowed only one run over six innings and emerged with the win in the Nats' 5-2 victory over Kershaw and the Dodgers, but he found himself pitching out of jams all night, with a heavy workload.

Los Angeles put at least one runner in scoring position in five of Scherzer's six innings, including a difficult bottom of the first that featured a Chris Taylor triple on the right-hander's very first pitch, then an errant breaking ball that struck Corey Seager in the legs on his very next pitch.

Facing a first-and-third, no-out jam right out of the chute, Scherzer buckled down and retired the heart of the Dodgers order. He got Yasmani Grandal to pop up, blew away Cody Belllinger with a 95-mph fastball and then froze Joc Pederson with a 3-2 curveball (perhaps his best pitch of the night).

"That was awesome," Scherzer said. "I wasn't quite thinking it, but as soon (catcher Matt) Wieters put it down, I was like: 'Yeah, that's it.' In my head I'm smiling, knowing that all I have to do is execute it. Just execute and throw it. ... That was a huge out, given the situation of the game."

Scherzer probably was on track to pitch seven innings, but after a pair of strikeouts to open the sixth, he walked Pederson on a 3-2 pitch, gave up back-to-back singles and didn't walk off the mound until his pitch count had reached 106.

That forced manager Davey Martinez to turn to his bullpen a bit earlier than he would have preferred, especially with Ryan Madson (who pitched all three games in New York earlier this week) unavailable. With Brandon Kintzler saved for the eighth, Martinez turned to lefties Matt Grace and Sammy Solís to get through what proved to be a tense seventh.

Grace got into immediate trouble, allowing a leadoff infield single to Austin Barnes and then walking Taylor. And after a 2-1 pitch to Seager, he didn't look right and prompted Martinez and director of athletic training Paul Lessard to come to the mound to check on him.

Grace was dealing with a left hip pointer, according to Martinez, who did let his lefty stay in to strike out Seager but then pulled him in favor of Solís.

"I didn't want to chance it," the manager said.

Solís gave up a quick RBI single to Grandal, leaving the Nationals clinging to a 4-2 lead with the go-ahead run at the plate. But Solís calmly struck out Bellinger on a 2-2 changeup, then got pinch-hitter Matt Kemp to ground out to second to escape the jam.

"I was thinking about my approach as I was warming up," he said. "Where we were at in the lineup were some guys who can do some damage. So I was throwing down in the zone, off-speed, mixing it up, because I didn't want them sitting on any certain pitch."

In his never-ending search for a reliever who can be counted on in the late innings along with Sean Doolittle, Madson and Kintzler, Martinez hopes he's found a solution in Solís.

"You've got to trust those guys, and they're going to pitch in big moments," the manager said. "Sammy can do that. I know he can. And we keep putting him out there, and he proves to me that he can do it like tonight."

Solís appreciated the show of trust from his manager.

"I think down in the bullpen, all of us expect to be there and thrown into any situation," he said. "Especially these games where guys are gearing up to play us and we're gearing up to play them. I mean, that was a playoff baseball atmosphere, and that's what we want to get ready for. I expect my name to be called in those situations."

Note: Major League Baseball umpires are offering up more than 300 items including autographed memorabilia, VIP experiences and upgraded ticket packages during its 10th annual Umps Care Charities online auction.

Among the Nationals-related items up for bid are Bryce Harper-autographed jerseys, a batting practice experience and tickets for four to a game at Nationals Park and a one-night stay at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City with tickets to a game.

The auction is currently underway at www.mlb.com/UmpsCare and closes at 10 p.m. Eastern time on April 30.