Neither starting pitcher made it past the fourth inning on Monday night, and that proved more problematic for the Los Angeles Dodgers in a 10-6 loss to the Cincinnati Reds in which they fell even through the first four games of their road trip.
Pushing Alex Wood back one day didn’t net desired results as he was ineffective early and hurt by sloppy play once he did manage to settle in some. Wood’s troubles began on a walk and hit by pitch, which were followed by Joey Votto’s two-run double.
Scooter Gennett added an RBI single, and when Wood induced a routine grounder that would’ve ended the inning, Manny Machado’s low throw got by David Freese and allowed another run to score.
A 1-2-3 second inning was offset in some regard when Eugenio Suarez led off the third with a home run. Wood was then let down by his defense as Yasmani Grandal dropped a perfect throw to home plate that had Billy Hamilton out by quite a distance.
Genett’s two-out RBI single extended the Reds’ lead to 7-3 and knocked Wood out of the game. Gennett later got to Ryan Madson, with yet another two-out single that scored a run in the sixth inning.
Madson allowed two more runs on a single by Tucker Barnhart, negating any headway and momentum that may have come from Grandal’s solo homer in the top half of the inning, and what came of a two-run seventh.
The Dodgers nonetheless left runs on the table as Yasiel Puig worked an 11-pitch at-bat, complete with fouling off seven consecutive pitches, only to line into an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded.
The offensive explosion helped the Reds atone for a short outing from Cody Reed in what was his fourth start of the season. He faced runners at the corners with one out in the first inning, and a bases-loaded jam with two outs, but got through it without allowing a run.
A walk and pair of singles in the third led to the Dodgers getting on the board. They struck again in the fourth on a two-run homer from Chris Taylor. That marked an 18th consecutive game for the Dodgers with a home run, which set a Los Angeles franchise record.
Reed exited with a lead for only the second time in his career, and the Reds notched their first win in 15 of his starts. Meanwhile, Cincinnati also improved to 5-0 against Los Angeles this season.
