There were so many heroes during the Dodgers doubleheader sweep of the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park by scores of 4-1 and 5-4 respectively on Saturday that it’s difficult to isolate the single-most significant.

• There was outfielder Joc Pederson, who led off game-1 with a triple and game-2 with a double.
• There was first baseman / third baseman Max Muncy, who drove in Pederson in both and went 4-for-6 on the day with a home run.
• There was right-handed reliever Erik Goeddel, who retired the heart of the Nationals powerful lineup in the bottom of the eighth inning of game-2 on 16 pitches to collect his first win in his Dodgers debut.
• There was Matt Kemp, who drove in the tying and winning runs in the top of the ninth inning of game-2 with a huge pinch-hit double into the left field corner.
• There was Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen, who picked up his seventh and eighth saves of the season respectively to secure a doubleheader sweep of the Nationals.

Matt Kemp’s pinch-hit two-run double in the top of the ninth inning of game-2 was without question the biggest hit of Saturday’s doubleheader between the Dodgers and Nationals. (Photo Credit – Alex Brandon)

But if I had to pick the one player who, in my opinion, not only set the stage for the game-1 win, but also got his teammates into a confident frame of mind to also win game-2, it would have to be Dodgers right-hander and game-1 starter Ross Stripling.

In only his third start of the 2018 season, the 28-year-old Blue Bell, Pennsylvania native and Dodgers 2012 fifth-round draft pick out of Texas A&M, allowed only one run on four hits, with zero walks and a career high nine strikeouts over his 6.0 innings of work, and did so on 96 pitches.

It was, hands down, Stripling’s best pitching performance since his major league debut on April 8, 2016, when Dodgers manager Dave Roberts pulled him with one out in the eighth inning of a no-hitter against the San Francisco Giants at less-than-friendly AT&T Park.

“I came out and got two punchouts with the curveball in the first inning, I think I went mostly through the lineup once without showing my change-up, which is good,” Stripling told SportsNet LA’s Alanna Rizzo. “I used it a little bit as the game went on, but overall I felt good.

“Having two games today, we like to come out and get this first one, get some momentum for us heading into this eight o’clock one,” he added.

Dodgers right-hander Ross Stripling set the tone for the entire day with his dominating performance in game-1 of Saturday’s twin bill. (Photo credit – Alex Brandon)

Stripling admits that he was running out of gas in his sixth and final inning of work, but did so with his characteristic sense of humor.

“I go back out for the sixth and I threw my first fastball and I looked up and it was like 88 [MPH] and I thought ‘Oh gosh, I gotta find some more energy,'” Stripling said. “I started rearing back and throwing a little bit harder, but I was able to get some strikeouts in that sixth inning and keep the momentum on our side, so that was pretty cool.”

Did it feel 88, or did he happen to look up at the radar display?

“I think it felt 88, that’s why I looked at it, ’cause I normally don’t check,” Stripling said, with a smile. “But I threw it and even like after the game, [Clayton] Kershaw said ‘Hey, was that a front door cutter?” and I was like, ‘No, that was what I had,’ so that was kind of funny.”

But Saturday’s twin billing wasn’t without its problems. In game-1, beloved former Dodger and current Nationals outfielder Howie Kendrick injured his right Achilles tendon on a routine fly ball and had to be carted off the field. A subsequent MRI revealed a full tear that will require surgery which will keep him out for the rest of the season.

And Dodgers game-2 starter Rich Hill lasted all of two pitches before the reoccurring blister on his left middle finger … reoccurred.

“The training staff is doing everything they can to come up with an answer for this,” Hill told Rizzo. “It’s frustrating as anything for me to go out there and put the bullpen and the team in this position.

“Unfortunately, I don’t have any answers at this time for the blister issue,” Hill added. “I thought going into tonight’s game everything was great. I warmed up great, everything was really good. The second-to-last pitch when I warmed up, I felt something break open. I knew at some point I’d have to come out.”

Although it appears that the 38-year-old Boston, Massachusetts native will be sidelined for a significant period of time, the good news is that Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw appears to be nearing a return to action, although there is no exact timetable for when that will happen.

The other good news that Stripling, who was making a spot start in game-1, is now poised and ready to assume a spot in the Dodgers regular five-man rotation, joining fellow right-handers Walker Buehler and Kenta Maeda, and left-handers Alex Wood and (eventually) Kershaw.

As a side note and although a bit presumptive, Dodgers top right-handed pitching prospect Dennis Santana made his debut with the team’s Triple-A affiliate Oklahoma City Dodgers on Saturday afternoon and was nothing short of sensational. The 22-year-old San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic native allowed no runs and only three hits, while walking none and striking out a season-high 11 in his six-inning OKC debut.

Although it remains to be seen whether or not Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and general manager Farhan Zaidi are willing to roll the dice with their young right-hander, he most certainly provides them the option of doing so.

With Saturday’s doubleheader sweep of the Nationals and yet another loss by the suddenly-struggling NL West-leading Arizona Diamondbacks, the Dodgers moved to within six games back of the division leaders. That being said, they still have to catch and pass the NL West third place Giants and the second place Colorado Rockies before they can even entertain any thought of capturing their seventh consecutive division title.

Stay tuned…