LOS ANGELES — Tarik Skubal pitched his longest start since joining the Dodgers, and Teoscar Hernández continued his excellent homestand in a 3-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds.
The Dodgers’ six-game win streak matches their longest of the season, matching May 23-29 and August 17-23.
Skubal, who was flipped with Yoshinobu Yamamoto to pitch Tuesday instead of Wednesday, didn’t allow a hit his first time through the order, but then in the third inning surrendered a two-out single to leadoff man Dane Myers
and a mammoth home run by Elly De La Cruz into the back part of the left field pavilion, tying things up.
Those were the only two runs Skubal permitted on Tuesday.
“He should be at 75 pitches through six innings, that’s when he’s really good, 80 pitches, something like that,” manager Dave Roberts said before the game. “When he’s efficient, that’s when we know we’ve got Tarik back, with the strikeouts on top of that.”
Skubal wasn’t quite that dominant, with five strikeouts, but he did need only 84 pitches to get through six innings, which was enough to get him into the seventh, and he retired all three Reds he faced on just eight more pitches. He faced one more batter in the eighth inning, retiring left-hander Héctor Rodriguez before leaving to a nice ovation.
Skubal pitched 7 1/3 innings on only 94 pitches, the first time he pitched into the eighth inning on four days rest since tossing a shutout on May 25, 2025 against Cleveland.
Edgardo Henriquez, who recorded a save on Sunday, was first out of the bullpen Tuesday against the top of the Reds batting order. Though he allowed a double to De La Cruz, Henriquez struck out Sal Stewart looking to strand the tying run in scoring position.
Tanner Scott walked Tanner Stephenson to open the ninth, but then struck out the next two and got a groundout to finish the save.
The Dodgers threatened in each of the first six innings, and scored single runs in three of those frames against Reds starter Nick Lodolo
Will Smith won a nine-pitch battle with Lodolo in the first inning for his first home run since returning from the injured list exactly one week ago.
It was just the second time the Dodgers scored in the first inning during this six-game winning streak (also, two runs on Saturday).
Tommy Edman was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the second inning for the Dodgers’ second run, marking the second time this homestand that a Dodger was hit by a pitch to knock in a run, joining Alex Call on Saturday against the Washington Nationals.
That’s Edman’s 12th time getting hit by a pitch this season, the most by any Dodger since 2023, when Freddie Freeman (16), Smith (15), and James Outman (12) were all plunked at least a dozen times. It’s even more remarkable considering Edman’s first HBP this season came on July 4.
With two outs in the third inning, Teoscar Hernández had a hit fall in front of and bounce past Myers in center field, which led to an exciting romp around the bases. While the Reds scrambled to retrieve the ball at on the warning track, Hernández tried for an inside-the-park home run but was thrown out by several feet, thanks in part to a ridiculously fast relay throw home by De La Cruz.
Hernández settled for a triple there, but in the fifth inning his two-out single scored Mookie Betts to give the Dodgers another lead. Hernández also singled in the eighth, part of a three-hit night plus a walk to extend his hit streak to nine games, during which he has 16 hits in 32 at-bats (.500).
Tuesday particulars
Home runs: Will Smith (7); Elly De La Cruz (25)
WP — Tarik Skubal (9-7): 7 1/3 IP, 4 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts
LP — Nick Lodolo (3-4): 4 2/3 IP, 5 hits, 3 runs, 3 walks, 6 strikeouts
Sv — Tanner Scott (22): 1 IP, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts
Up next
The Dodgers close out their nine-game homestand on Wednesday night (7:10 p.m., SportsNet LA), with Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the mound, and right-hander Rhett Lowder starting for Cincinnati.
