The Dodgers offense reawakened in a big way on Wednesday, as they completed a three-game sweep of the Cincinnati Reds with a 14-1 victory, extending their winning streak to a season-high seven games.
Both Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Rhett Lowder were able to work around a single baserunner in the first inning, with Yamamoto in particular picking off Sal Stewart after reaching on a two-out single. The Dodgers got two consecutive singles from Teoscar Hernández and Kyle Tucker to begin the bottom of the second
before Hunter Feduccia reached on a fielder’s choice to load the bases with no outs. The Reds turned a 4-6-3 double play on a ground ball from Alex Freeland, but Hernández scored on the play giving the Dodgers the first lead of the night.
Will Smith doubled against Lowder in the bottom of the third and Mookie Betts extended the lead to three with his third home run of the homestand.
Yamamoto had faced the minimum over his through his first 10 hitters faced with six strikeouts, as the Stewart single was the only blemish on his night up to that point. Then he ran into the red-hot Elly De La Cruz with one out in the top of the fourth inning, who tattooed a home run for a fifth consecutive game, giving him a career-high 26 home runs and putting Cincinnati on the board.
The Dodgers wasted no time getting that run back, as after Tucker and Feduccia led off the bottom of the fourth, Freeland brought home his first run since being called back up with an RBI double to left-center field. Kiké Hernández swatted the third double of the inning to left-center field, bringing home two, extending the lead to five and knocking Lowder out of the game after just 3 1/3 innings.
A wild pitch from reliever Luis Mey brought home Hernández, and the Dodgers would make it a six-run inning with a two-run single from Teoscar Hernández, making it an eight-run lead. The Reds had to face 10 hitters in the inning before getting their next shot against Yamamoto.
After failing to cash in any runs in the fifth inning, the Dodgers made it a 10-run lead with a two-run home run from Max Muncy, giving the Dodgers their first double-digit lead since the All-Star break. 11 runs were the most runs scored in a home game since the Dodgers scored 12 against the San Diego Padres on July 2.
As for Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the mound, he finished his night with his first quality start of the month of September, finishing with seven innings across 90 pitches, with his three hits being the fewest in any start since allowing just three hits against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Aug. 8. Yamamoto now has five consecutive starts with at least eight strikeouts, racking up 44 over his last 32 2/3 innings, with his 10 strikeouts tying a career-high. With a winning decision on Wednesday, Yamamoto has now set a new career-high in wins with 13.
The Dodgers kept pouring it on Cincinnati against Tony Santillan in the bottom of the seventh inning, as Kiké Hernández blasted a two-run home run to give the Dodgers a 12-run lead. It was Hernández’s first home run since August 19, and it was his first home run of the year against a pitcher not named Kyle Freeland.
Mookie Betts finished Wednesday with a 3-5 performance, and on the nine-game homestand, Betts hit .375 with three home runs and 13 RBI, raising his season OPS from .698 at the start of September all the way to 742. Betts also extended his on-base streak to 18 games.
Teoscar Hernández added a pair of hits in what has been a torrid 10-game hitting streak. Hernández in those 10 games is now hitting .514 with two home runs and 14 RBI, raising his season OPS from .692 entering the final game of August to .761.
Kyle Tucker finished Wednesday with his first multi-hit game since Aug. 19, collecting a double, a single and a home run in the bottom of the eighth to make it a 13-run lead. It’s the first time all season that Tucker has collected multiple home runs in a single homestand.
With their seventh straight win, the Dodgers are now four full games over the Atlanta Braves for the second seed in the National League, still trailing the Milwaukee Brewers by 1 1/2 games for the top spot.
Game particulars
- Home runs— Mookie Betts (19), Max Muncy (27), Kiké Hernández (3), Kyle Tucker (13); Elly De La Cruz (26)
- WP— Yoshinobu Yamamoto (13-8): 7 IP, 3 hits, 1 earned run, 1 walk, 10 strikeouts
- LP— Rhett Lowder (6-10): 3 1/3 IP, 7 hits, 7 earned runs, 2 walks, 4 strikeouts
Up next
The Dodgers are off on Thursday as they venture on a seven-game road trip beginning Friday in Miami against the Marlins (4:10 p.m. PT, SportsNet LA). Starters for both teams have yet to be announced.
