Will Smith hit a go-ahead RBI single in a two-run seventh inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers finished off a 7-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Friday.
Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani and Jason Heyward hit home runs for the Dodgers, who pulled ahead late after blowing an early three-run lead. Los Angeles had gone without an extra-base hit in each of the previous two games, both losses.
Stuart Fairchild and Tyler Stephenson homered for the Reds, who fell after dominating in the series opener for a 7-2 victory on Thursday. Cincinnati had lost 12 of its previous 14 games before the series started and is now 3-5 on a 10-game road trip.
Stephenson had two hits on Friday and is 9-for-17 (.529) over his past four starts.
The Dodgers appeared to be in control early, getting a leadoff home run from Betts, the 51st of his career as his team’s first batter of the game. In the third inning, Enrique Hernandez singled, and two batters later, Ohtani hit a home run to left field. It was Ohtani’s 13th long ball of the season, tied for the major league lead.
The Reds worked their way back into the game starting in the fourth inning when Jonathan India scored a ground ball by Spencer Steer. Cincinnati pulled within a run on a leadoff home run by Fairchild in the fifth inning and tied it 3-3 on Stephenson’s two-out solo shot in the sixth.
After the Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman was intentionally walked in the seventh inning to put two aboard, Smith hit a two-out RBI single to center for a 4-3 lead. Freeman then scored on a wild pitch by Fernando Cruz (1-5).
In the eighth inning, Heyward hit a two-run homer down the right field line in his first game back from the injured list. Heyward played just four early games this season before he went down with a lower back injury.
Michael Grove (2-2) got three outs in the seventh inning to earn the win. Dodgers starter James Paxton gave up three runs on seven hits over six-plus innings. He fanned two without issuing a walk.
Reds starter Frankie Montas allowed three runs on four hits and three walks over five innings. He struck out one.
–Field Level Media