Irvin allowed four hits and one walk as he benefited from strong defense behind him, especially from second baseman Luis García Jr.
“They’re really good hitters and a really good lineup,” said Irvin, who has a 3.13 ERA after four starts. “But at the end of the day, they got to put the ball in play. The thought was just go into attack mode, don’t give them anything free, and make them earn it.”
Irvin didn’t miss many bats as a rookie last season — his whiff percentage was 17.8, which he has raised to 21.6 this year. (The major league average is 24.8 percent.) He was at 28.2 percent Wednesday, and with his fastball, he got nine whiffs on 24 swings (37.5 percent).
“He was using his fastball both in and out, attacking the zone,” Manager Dave Martinez said. “When he needed to throw a breaking ball, he did, but his fastball was electric.”
The Nationals (8-10) trekked to Los Angeles following an underwhelming three-game set at Oakland that could have ended with a series win or even a sweep. Instead, they won just once. But they rebounded with two wins in three games against the Dodgers (12-9), and Irvin was a major reason for that.
He could have gone beyond the sixth inning, too, but Martinez opted to pull him after 73 pitches. Irvin had cruised through the Dodgers’ lineup with relative ease, allowing just five base runners. And he had thrown just 74 pitches in a six-inning, one-hit outing against the Athletics on Friday.
But there was a clear argument against sending Irvin out for the seventh Wednesday: He struggled last season against left-handed batters. In the sixth, lefties Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman hit balls with exit velocities of 106.7 and 99.6 mph — for a single and a double play — before Smith struck out. Set to lead off the seventh for the Dodgers: Max Muncy, who feasts against righties.
“We had a conversation after the sixth inning. I really felt like he let it air out there that last inning,” Martinez said. “… We decided to go with the bullpen, but I can’t say enough about what he’s done so far.”
Robert Garcia, Hunter Harvey and Kyle Finnegan handled the final three innings without incident, and the Nationals returned home with a 5-4 record on their California road trip.
“[Irvin] pitched his butt off today,” Harvey said. “… Any time a starter can give you six scoreless, it’s always a good day.”
The Nationals, who managed just one first-inning run in their first 17 games, drove in two in the first against the Dodgers’ Landon Knack, a righty making his major league debut. CJ Abrams greeted him with a home run on the game’s second pitch, and Joey Meneses tacked on another run with a sacrifice fly.
The Dodgers had opportunities to level the score. They had two runners on in the first, but Irvin struck out Muncy with a fastball. In the second, he allowed a double to James Outman, who was at third base with two outs. He struck out Gavin Lux with another fastball. He stranded another runner on third in the fourth inning.
The Nationals have several young starters who they hope will take the next step this season. Josiah Gray (strained right flexor muscle) and Cade Cavalli (Tommy John surgery) are recuperating; the Nationals hope they’ll be back soon. So far, Gore has looked the part.
But so has Irvin. Last season, he made the most of his opportunity while filling in for the injured Chad Kuhl. Irvin thrived early, then struggled. The Nationals could have sent him back down, but they stuck with him — and he was their best pitcher in the season’s second half. This year, he seems to be building confidence with each start.
“He’s been unbelievable — he really has,” Martinez said. “He’s been outstanding, actually. He just keeps getting better and better. The confidence keeps growing.”
Note: Lefty Mitchell Parker, who beat the Dodgers in his MLB debut Monday, is slated to start Sunday against visiting Houston. Gore and Trevor Williams are set to start the first two games of the series. Martinez said Parker will be on a start-by-start basis as the Nationals await word on Gray’s condition.
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