The route Kenley Jansen travelled in from the bullpen door to the mound at Dodger Stadium in Monday’s 4-1 victory over Washington lasted 69 steps. He had trekked far longer to reach this moment, from his boyhood in Curacao to a rudderless stint as a catcher in the Los Angeles Dodgers minor-league system to seven seasons of excellence in the big-league bullpen.
Once he reached the mound, Jansen plucked a fresh baseball and placed it into his mitt. Then he proceeded to do what he has done since he debuted in 2010. He fired cut fastballs and collected outs. The last three produced his 162nd save as a Dodger, which allowed him to surpass Eric Gagne for the franchise record.
“Every time Kershaw is pitching, I have a great chance to get in there,” Jansen said. “To get my first save with the Dodgers with him, and then to break the record with him, that’s awesome.”
The milestone for Jansen delivered a capstone to a fortifying evening for the Dodgers (39-33), who won their fourth game in a row. The Dodgers bested the Nationals, the class of the National League East, to maintain the momentum created by a series victory last weekend over Milwaukee.
Working in unforgiving heat, Clayton Kershaw (11-1, 1.57 earned-run average) logged seven innings of one-run baseball. He scattered six hits, three of them during Washington’s run-scoring rally in the seventh. Kershaw struck out eight and, as usual, walked none.
Justin Turner lengthened a string of scorching hitting with a solo homer and an RBI single. Joc Pederson provided his 13th home run of the season. Chase Utley chipped in an RBI single after Kershaw exited the stage.
The Dodgers caught a break before the game even began. Nationals star Stephen Strasburg scotched the marquee pitching matchup when he experienced a back strain. Washington replaced him with veteran swingman Yusmeiro Petit.
On the television broadcast, Vin Scully lamented the loss. He said he braved a sore throat to announce the evening’s contest, only to learn “about 45 minutes before the start of the game, Strasburg let me down.” Given their scattershot offense, the Dodgers did not share Scully’s sentiment.
The stadium broiled even as the sun set. Kershaw appeared impervious to the elements. As is his custom, he swaddled himself in a hooded sweatshirt inside the clubhouse. After he loosened up in the bullpen, he wore a warmup jacket despite the 96-degree heat.
In a strange twist, the first National to record a hit on Monday was Petit. He chopped a single up the middle with two outs in the third. By that point, Kershaw had already struck out four of Petit’s teammates.
Kershaw also inherited an early lead. Turner hit his fifth homer in seven games in the first inning. Turner crushed a slider for a solo shot.
Turner combined with Corey Seager to extend the advantage in the bottom of the fourth. Seager drove an opposite-field double into left field, where it hopped over the wall. After fouling off a pair of pitches, Turner poked a 90-mph fastball through the right side of the infield for an RBI single. In the fifth, Pederson smacked a hanging slider from Petit. His towering parabola cleared the right-field wall.
An inning later, Washington outfielder Michael A. Taylor became the first National to reach second base on the night. He pounced on a first-pitch fastball for a one-out double. Kershaw stared down the heart of Washington’s lineup for the third time of the evening. Kershaw set aside veteran outfielder Jayson Werth, who swung through a slider for strikeout No. 7. To the plate strode Bryce Harper, Washington’s 23-year-old force.
Harper blitzed the National League en route to the Most Valuable Player award last summer. He entered Monday in the midst of a cold stretch, by his outsized standards. Kershaw had struck him out in their first two dalliances, fooling him with sliders both times.
Kershaw maintained his mastery of Harper once more. Harper swung through a 1-0 slider to even the count. Kershaw proceeded to pump a pair of fastballs past Harper for a third strikeout.
The stress did not cease in the seventh. Daniel Murphy, who entered the night leading the National League with a .358 batting average, greeted Kershaw with a leadoff single. Two batters later, catcher Wilson Ramos put runners at the corners with another single.
The Dodgers bullpen stirred to life for the first time. Joe Blanton was warming up when third baseman Anthony Rendon chipped a grounder to the right side of the infield. A defensive shift pulled Utley too far from the ball’s path, and a run scored on the single. The drama increased when shortstop Danny Espinosa scalded a fastball into left field. Howie Kendrick dove to catch it.
The runners advanced into scoring position when Kershaw bounced a slider past catcher Yasmani Grandal. Kershaw recovered to induce a harmless flyout by former Dodger Chris Heisey to leave both Nationals stranded.

RESULTS
Arizona     3     Philadelphia     1
Pittsburgh     1     San Francisco     0
Detroit     8     Seattle 7 (12 innings)
Chicago W Sox     3     Boston 1 (10 innings)
Colorado     5     Miami     3
Cleveland     7     Tampa Bay     4
St. Louis     3     Chicago Cubs     2
Texas     4     Baltimore     3
Houston     10 LA Angels     7
LA Dodgers     4     Washington     1