Young arms dueling at Dodger Stadium (Nats lose 4-3)

LOS ANGELES - After a frustrating few nights trying (and mostly failing) to come up with clutch hits, the Nationals managed to record a couple of them in succession in the top of the second tonight, giving themselves an early lead over the Dodgers.

Danny Espinosa and Joe Ross hit back-to-back RBI doubles off 19-year-old phenom Julio Urias, a pair of desperately needed two-out hits with men in scoring position for a Nationals lineup that has struggled mightily to deliver in those situations.

The lead was short-lived, though; Corey Seager launched a homer to center field off Ross in the bottom of the third, leaving the game tied 2-2 in a duel of talented young pitchers.

If nothing else, the Nationals' ability to come through in a couple of big spots was something of a sigh of relief for this team, which is trying to snap a four-game losing streak and avoid getting swept at Dodger Stadium. They were 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position during Tuesday night's 3-2 loss, and the one hit came from pitcher Tanner Roark in the eighth inning (and wound up not even scoring a run).

This time, a position player came through. With two outs and teammate Ryan Zimmerman on second base, Espinosa drilled a ball deep to left field, off the top of the fence. Espinosa missed his ninth home run in 20 games by a matter of inches, but his RBI double was welcomed nonetheless by the Nationals dugout.

Moments later, Ross doubled down the right field line, scoring Espinosa and giving the Nationals the lead. Though Ross is now 7-for-29 this season, this was his first career RBI.

Update: We've completed six innings here, and it remains a 2-2 game. Ross has found a groove since giving up Seager's homer in the bottom of the second. He has retired 10-of-13 batters since then, only one man reaching scoring position. And with his pitch count at 90, he should be good to go in the seventh. Urias, meanwhile, was pulled after five innings and 94 pitches, which was a career-high for him. (The Dodgers have been restricting the 19-year-old to about 85 pitches per start.) Jayson Werth has two hits and a walk for the Nats, but they've been wasted because the two guys hitting around him (Michael A. Taylor and Bryce Harper) are a combined 0-for-6 with five strikeouts.

Update II: Say hello to the Buffalo, Hollywood. Wilson Ramos hammered a 1-1 pitch from Pedro Baez way deep into the left field bleachers, giving the Nats a 3-2 lead in the top of the eighth. And so far, the Nats bullpen is making that lead hold up. Oliver Perez recorded the last two outs of the seventh, then Felipe Rivero retired a pair in the bottom of the eighth, before Shawn Kelley took over for the final out. Kelley presumably will return for the ninth, in search of a four-out save.

Update III: That was not good. The Nats lost this game, 4-3, in embarrassing fashion. With one out and one on in the bottom of the ninth, Yasiel Puig hit a single to center. Michael A. Taylor let the ball get under his glove and it rolled all the way to the fence as Puig rounded the bases. Despite a stop sign from the third base coach, Puig kept going, and by the time the Nats got the ball back to the infield, they didn't even attempt a throw to the plate. That's a terrible loss, their fifth straight.