LOS ANGELES -- Everything was sideways for Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen on Monday in Game 3 of the National League Division Series, which the Dodgers lost to the Nationals, 8-3.
The teams will meet Tuesday at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT on FS1 with the Nationals one victory away from clinching a spot in the NL Championship Series.
Instead of entering the game in the ninth inning to protect a lead for a win, Jansen was called on with the Dodgers trailing by a run and asked to keep it close.
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Instead of overpowering the opposition, the opposition overpowered Jansen. Former Dodger Jayson Werth led off with a monstrous homer, estimated by Statcast™ at 450 feet. Jansen, who had walked only 11 batters in 71 games, walked Daniel Murphy. After hitting only two batters all season, he grazed the jersey of Bryce Harper.
And with one out, he gave up a two-run double to Ryan Zimmerman that right fielder Josh Reddick was unable to catch at the fence. Zimmerman would later score, tagging Jansen with four earned runs, the most he had allowed in a game since he gave up five as a rookie in 2011.
"I was fighting with myself a lot today," said Jansen, who notched a five-out save in Friday night's Game 1 win. "Just clearly was trying to fight and get out of the inning. It definitely was tough to get a rhythm. I tried to hit my spot like I always do. Everything was flat and has been not where I want it to be."
Jansen, though, went with the closer mentality when explaining how he'll approach Game 4.
"Today's already over, we still have a shot to win two," he said. "Why not? We start tomorrow. Hopefully I can get in the same situation, facing the same hitters. You can't worry about what happened the last two days. You've just got to flip the script. Tomorrow's another day."