Yoshinobu Yamamoto turned in a quality start and Shohei Ohtani provided the go-ahead hit for the Los Angeles Dodgers in their 5-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds.
With that, the Dodgers moved back to .500 on their current road trip with five games remaining.
Mookie Betts helped spark the Dodgers to a 1-0 lead in the first inning by opening the game with a double. He later scored on a base hit by Teoscar Hernández, who had two RBI on the night.
The Dodgers’ lead was short-lived, however, as the Reds loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the first and tied the game on Gavin Lux’s RBI groundout. Lux finished 1-for-2 with two walks in his first game against the Dodgers since being traded to the Reds.
The game remained tied until Ohtani’s two-run double in the fifth inning. It came after Miguel Rojas led off the inning with a hustle double and Betts singled with one out. The multi-hit game was Betts’ first since July 11 and fourth overall this month.
While the Dodgers found some success against Chase Burns, the top Reds prospect still finished with 10 strikeouts over 5.2 innings. It was Burns’ third start in a row with 10 strikeouts, which made him just the second Reds pitcher since 1900 to achieve that.
Burns’ effort was bested by Yamamoto holding the Reds to only one run in seven innings. It was Yamamoto’s third start this month of pitching seven innings, and each of those outings was one earned run or fewer.
Hernández and Freddie Freeman provided more breathing room with RBI singles in the seventh inning. That gave Hernández seven hits and six RBI in his last five games.
Blake Treinen allowed a run in the ninth inning and faced the tying run at the plate with one out and issued a walk to load the bases with two outs. That prompted Dodgers manager Dave Roberts to go to Jack Dreyer after Treinen threw 25 pitches.
The appearance was Treinen’s first since coming off the 60-day injured list Sunday.
Dodgers calling up Alex Freeland
The Dodgers reportedly plan to call up top infield prospect Alex Freeland for his MLB debut. While Freeland is due to join the team in Cincinnati, it’s not yet clear who he will replace on the roster.
Hyeseong Kim seemingly is a candidate to go on the 10-day injured list as he’s been playing through a left shoulder issue for the past week.
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