Blake Treinen struggles in ninth as Dodgers win 5-0; will Rizzo seek bullpen help?

Nationals reliever Blake Treinen came on in the ninth inning with the Dodgers clinging to a 1-0 lead.

When he left, the Dodgers led 5-0.

Andre Ethier had the key base hit on a 0-2 fastball that he lined up the middle to make it 2-0 Dodgers. A.J. Ellis followed with an RBI single to make it 3-0. Yasiel Puig's base hit past a diving Yunel Escobar scored two more runs, and L.A. led 5-0. That turned into the final score.

Treinen had not pitched since July 11, and Drew Storen had closed Saturday's first game with a save. Did manager Matt Williams want to break up Storen's usage or give Treinen a shot?

"Well, he hasn't pitched so he's a guy that we can go to," Williams said of Treinen. "He's our long guy, so if we tie that game, he's still in the game if he gets through that inning easy.

"Had a good matchup for Felipe (Rivero) with the lefties. Had to get him out of the inning with (Aaron) Barrett. We're down to our long guy there."

Treinen said he was unable to get guys out when he had the advantage in strikes.

"Just didn't make pitches when I needed to," Treinen said. "Balls found holes. Didn't put guys away when I was up in the count, so. You make mistakes, hitters are going to make you pay, that's what happened."

With men on second and third early in the inning, Treinen intentionally walked Adrian Gonzalez, who already had had a huge series, to load the bases. Treinen was looking for a grounder off the bat of Ethier. But the base hit there provided a big insurance run for the Dodgers in the close game.

"It should make it easier," Treinen said. It's a force out once there's a guy on first. I (need to) go out there and throw sinkers, breaking balls down in the zone trying to force contact. I just made a mistake, fastball stayed up and over the zone and he made me pay for it. I should've made a better pitch."

David Carpenter (shoulder) is on the disabled list and Sammy Solis (who came in to relieve Treinen) had been used in the game Saturday. Williams wanted to give Treinen the shot in that situation in hopes that the team could tie the game up and then use Storen for the win or save.

The Dodgers jumped on the Nationals this time and ended up winning the series with the 5-0 shutout.

Will struggles by the bullpen accelerate the thoughts of general manager Mike Rizzo to go out and look for an arm or two with the trade deadline 11 days away? Tyler Clippard has been a name that has always been enticing to Nationals fans. But a ton of teams are interested in Clippard. Rizzo might still see what is out there to try to find a setup man with good velocity. However, Casey Janssen appears to have bought him some time with three consecutive outstanding outings.