LOS ANGELES (Interstat) — Blake Snell threw six shutout innings and the Los Angeles Dodgers used an early burst of offense to beat the Washington Nationals 5-3 on Friday night at Dodger Stadium.

Snell, the top star for the Dodgers, allowed five hits, struck out seven and did not issue a walk. He retired the side in order in the first and third innings and worked out of trouble in the second, fifth and sixth. Snell improved to 3-1 on the season. In his previous start at Detroit on Aug. 29, he took the loss despite allowing one earned run over five innings with 10 strikeouts.

Washington starter Jackson Kent took the loss, falling to 1-3. Kent allowed three earned runs on four hits over five innings and struck out four. The Nationals pushed across three runs in the ninth against Dodgers closer Jack Dreyer, but Dreyer closed it out for his second save.

The Dodgers broke open a scoreless tie in the third inning. Kyle Tucker and Enrique Hernandez drew consecutive one-out walks to start the rally. Tommy Edman struck out for the first out before Mookie Betts singled to center field, bringing home Tucker. Teoscar Hernandez followed with a double to center, scoring Enrique Hernandez and Betts to give the Dodgers a 3-0 lead.

Los Angeles added another run in the fourth inning without a hit. Alex Call led off with a double to left field. Tucker grounded out to first base, advancing Call to third. After Enrique Hernandez popped out to third baseman Brady House in foul territory, Tommy Edman reached on a fielding error by shortstop Nasim Nuñez, allowing Call to score.

Kyle Tucker made it 5-0 in the sixth inning when he homered to right-center field, his 12th home run of the season. The solo shot came off Washington reliever Luis Perales, who had taken over for Kent to begin the sixth. Tucker finished 1 for 2 with a home run and an RBI.

The Dodgers’ bullpen protected the lead through the middle innings. Edgardo Henriquez struck out two in a perfect seventh inning. Kyle Hurt allowed one hit in two-thirds of an inning in the eighth and struck out one. Tanner Scott entered and recorded the final out of the eighth.

Washington had chances against Snell earlier in the game. In the second inning, Brady House singled and stole second base, but Yohandy Morales was called out on strikes and Harry Ford struck out swinging to end the threat. In the fifth, Yohandy Morales doubled to right field with one out, but Ford popped out to shortstop, Jacob Young walked and Nasim Nuñez flied out to first baseman Enrique Hernandez to strand him.

Snell’s toughest test came in the sixth inning against the top of the Washington order. James Wood doubled to left field and Andres Chaparro singled to center, putting runners on first and third with nobody out. Snell got Dylan Crews to pop out to shortstop, then struck out CJ Abrams. Brady House grounded out softly to third baseman Max Muncy to end the inning.

Washington also threatened in the eighth inning against the Dodgers bullpen. Andres Chaparro reached on a fielding error by Muncy, and Dylan Crews followed with a ground-rule double to right-center field, putting runners on second and third with one out. But Hurt struck out Jorbit Vivas? Actually per plays, the inning: Vivas struck out, Wood lined out, Chaparro reached error, Crews double, Abrams flied out. So after doubles, CJ Abrams flew out sharply to center fielder Tommy Edman to end the inning. Hurt got out of it.

The Nationals finally broke through in the ninth against Dreyer. Brady House doubled to left field and scored on Abimelec Ortiz’s single to center. Jose Tena singled to right, moving Ortiz to third. Daylen Lile struck out for the first out. Jorbit Vivas grounded out to second baseman Alex Freeland, allowing Ortiz to score and advancing Tena to second. James Wood followed with a double to right field, scoring Tena and cutting the Dodgers’ lead to 5-3. Andres Chaparro then flew out to right fielder Kyle Tucker to end the game.

Washington outhit the Dodgers 10-5 but stranded too many runners in the middle innings. The Nationals had a runner on first and third with one out in the sixth, runners on second and third with one out in the eighth, and came up short in the ninth.

Teoscar Hernandez drove in two runs for the Dodgers with his third-inning double. Betts went 2 for 4 with two runs scored. Hernandez finished 1 for 3 with two RBIs. Tucker added his home run, and Tommy Edman drove in a run on an error in the fourth.

For the Nationals, James Wood doubled twice and drove in a run. Andres Chaparro collected two hits. Brady House doubled and scored once. Washington’s bullpen held the Dodgers scoreless after Kent left, with Luis Perales allowing one run in two innings, Jack Sinclair pitching a scoreless seventh with one strikeout, and the Nationals’ relievers keeping the deficit at five runs into the ninth.

The win improved the Dodgers to 84-57 on the season. Washington fell to 67-76. The announced attendance was 49,847, and the game was completed in 2 hours 37 minutes.

The teams meet again Saturday night at Dodger Stadium in the second game of the three-game series. The Nationals then travel to San Diego for three games, while the Dodgers host Cincinnati after the series.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Washington Nationals 6, Los Angeles Dodgers 5. Interstat’s ELO system had projected the Dodgers with a 68.80 percent probability to win. The Dodgers had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -1.5. The total score of 8 went over the over/under line of 8.5.