LOS ANGELES (AP) — Teoscar Hernández hit a three-run homer, Emmet Sheehan tied a career high with 10 strikeouts in his first major league outing since Aug. 2 and the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Cincinnati Reds 6-3 on Monday night.
Shohei Ohtani went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts and a walk in his return to the lineup after a four-day break to heal multiple lingering injuries.
The NL West leaders won their fifth in a row despite being outhit 7-3.
They cooled off the Reds, who were coming off series wins over the Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres and NL Central-leading Milwaukee.
It was the first of seven games over the next 11 days between the teams.
Sheehan (5-8) allowed one run and three hits in 5 2/3 innings. He was recalled earlier in the day from Triple-A Oklahoma City, where he'd been sent due to his struggles on the mound.
Evan Phillips pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to earn his first save since May 2, 2025.
The Dodgers didn’t get their first hit until Hernández singled off reliever Brandon Williamson (3-4) leading off the fifth. Alex Call was hit by a pitch with two outs, and both runners scored on a throwing error by third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes.
Trailing 2-1, the Reds loaded the bases against Sheehan in the sixth after Carlos Jorge singled for his first major league hit. Alex Vesia entered and threw a called third strike past JJ Bleday to end the threat.
Sheehan hugged Vesia in the dugout.
Hernández homered off Williamson in the bottom half to make it 5-1.
The Reds’ first two runs came on homers to center field by De La Cruz in the first and Eugenio Suárez in the seventh.
De La Cruz has gone deep in three straight games. He has 24 homers this season, one short of equaling his own club record for switch-hitters set in 2024.
Cincinnati closed to 5-3 in the eighth on pinch-hitter Dane Myers’ RBI groundout against reliever Jack Dreyer.
Pinch-hitter Will Smith tacked on a sacrifice fly for Los Angeles in the bottom half.
Reds starter Chase Burns struck out five in three hitless innings before leaving as part of the team's workload-management plan that went into place Monday.
Reds LHP Nick Lodolo (3-3, 5.08 ERA) starts Tuesday against Dodgers LHP Tarik Skubal (8-7, 2.86).
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