Nats get late homer from Harper, but too much Kershaw leads to 4-2 loss

Three consecutive singles to start the second inning from Adrian Gonzalez, Andre Ethier and Yasiel Puig resulted in the Dodgers' first run against Nationals starter Doug Fister.

Fister has yielded one run on five hits with one walk and one strikeout through three innings.

Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw has struck out four of the first seven batters he has faced. Clint Robinson collected the Nationals' lone hit on a single up the middle in the second.

Update: Fister ran into difficulty with one out in the fifth. It started when the tall righty hit Joc Pederson. Fister then gave up a single to Howie Kendrick, followed by an RBI base knock by Justin Turner.

Kendrick scored moments later on a sacrifice fly from Ethier and Puig then plated Kendrick on a sharp single to left.

Fister's afternoon ended after the inning. He threw 91 pitches, allowing four runs on nine hits with two walks, one hit batter and one strikeout.

Right-hander Taylor Jordan pitched a scoreless sixth inning in relief for the Nationals.

Meanwhile, the Nats are struggling to make contact against Kershaw. Bryce Harper has whiffed three times against the left-hander. Ian Desmond, Michael A. Taylor and Danny Espinosa have each struck out twice. Kershaw has fanned 12 through six innings.

Update: Jordan threw three scoreless innings, yielding two hits with two walks and three strikeouts. Left-hander Sammy Solis battled gave up two hits with two strikeouts without allowing a run in the ninth.

Kershaw left after eight innings. He struck out a season-high 14 batters while surrendering three hits with no walks.

Espinosa left the game in the top of the ninth after injuring himself diving for a grounder. D.C. native Emmanuel Burriss replaced Espinosa and connected on his first hit with the Nationals with one out in the ninth. Harper followed by mashing a two-run homer off Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen. The blast to the second deck in right field was Harper's 27th home run of the season.

The Dodgers beat the Nationals 4-2.