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Nationals wait out rain to down Dodgers

May 6, 2014 - 7:01 AM Washington, DC (SportsNetwork.com) - Anthony Rendon and Danny Espinosa belted two-run homers nearly six hours apart as the Washington Nationals outlasted a lengthy rain delay for a 4-0 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the opener of a three-game series.

Washington's bullpen shut down the Dodgers to the tune of three hits over the final five innings after Jordan Zimmermann had his start cut short.

Zimmermann scattered five hits prior to the 3-hour, 17-minute delay. When play resumed just before midnight (et) Aaron Barrett (2-0) took over on the hill and tossed a 1-2-3 inning to earn the win.

"In those type of situations when you have a late game, it's always good to be on the winning side," Barrett said.

Washington owned a 2-0 lead at the time of the stoppage, courtesy of Rendon's two-run homer off Zack Greinke in the bottom of the first inning.

Denard Span greeted Greinke with a double before Rendon clubbed a low slider over the wall in left center for his fifth home run of the season.

While waiting out the storms, remaining fans were kept entertained with a broadcast of the Washington Wizards' Game 1 win over the Indiana Pacers in the NBA's Eastern Conference semifinals that was shown on the stadium jumbotron.

Greinke (5-1) allowed five hits overall in a three-inning stint, which ended a streak of 18 consecutive starts for the Los Angeles hurler in which he permitted two or less runs while working at least five innings -- the longest such stretch in the majors since 1914.

"I started to make adjustments, started to feel better as the game went on and then it started raining," Greinke said.

Espinosa's two-run blast came against Pedro Baez in the eighth.

Jerry Blevins, Drew Storen, Tyler Clippard and Rafael Soriano each threw a flawless inning of relief behind Zimmermann and Barrett.

The game ended at 1:21 a.m. (et).

Game Notes

The Dodgers played without right fielder Yasiel Puig, who injured his head and shoulder while colliding with the outfield wall on the final play of Sunday's loss at Miami ... Washington activated outfielder Scott Hairston (strained oblique) from the 15-day disabled list prior to the game while optioning outfielder Steven Souza to Triple-A Syracuse ... Nationals left fielder Nate McLouth left the game in the eighth inning after making a sliding catch and crashing into the wall in foul territory ... Washington improved to 15-1 when scoring four or more runs ... The Dodgers won their final five meetings against the Nationals last year.