One afternoon removed from from his first career walk-off hit, Corey Seager upped the ante in some sense by hitting his first career grand slam on Sunday. It capped off a six-run eighth inning that propelled the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 9-7 win over the Cincinnati Reds.
Los Angeles not only completed a sweep of Cincinnati with their come-from-behind victory, but also extended their winning streak to four games and gained a full game on the National League West-leading Colorado Rockies.
Reds reliever Raisel Iglesias entered in the eighth with one on and one out. Cody Bellinger had just hit his second home run of the game to trim the Dodgers’ deficit to 7-4. Iglesias walked Yasiel Puig and Kiké Hernandez to load the bases.
Hernandez’s plate appearance was particularly impressive. He fouled off seven straight pitches, eight overall, and walked on the 13th pitch. Chase Utley, who hit a solo home run in the fifth, walked to bring a run in.
The Dodgers’ win took away some sting from what was another short start for Hyun-Jin Ryu. He was plagued by much of the same issues that have cropped up at various points this season.
Ryu threw 68 pitches over four innings and allowed four runs on six hits, surrendering three home runs. The second inning was particularly rocky for the southpaw.
Adam Duvall homered on the first pitch he saw, setting off a string of four consecutive hits. Scott Schebler punctuated that stretch with a two-run homer that gave the Reds a 3-0 lead. The home run was Schebler’s 18th this season, which leads the National League.
After the Dodgers climbed back into the game on Bellinger’s two-run homer, Joey Votto deposited a 90 mph fastball into the pavilion in left-center field for a solo home run in the third inning.
Ryu did manage to end his brief outing on an optimistic note by striking out the side in the fourth to finish with five strikeouts.
Tim Adleman surrendered a leadoff home run to Utley in the fifth on a ball that skipped off Billy Hamilton’s glove. Adleman then stranded Seager after allowing a double with nobody out.
Adleman largely avoided any trouble on the afternoon, even if taking into account the three runs (two earned) Dodgers scored.
Ross Stripling’s second inning of work was a far cry from his first. The relief appearance was Stripling’s first since June 4. Suarez’s single and Schebler’s double led to a run scoring on Jose Peraza’s sacrifice fly in the sixth. Devin Mesoraco followed with a two-run home run.
That marked the second time this season the Dodgers allowed a season-high four home runs in a single game. The first instance came at Chase Field on April 22, when Kenta Maeda did so single-handedly.
Seager was hit by a pitch and Justin Turner singled to give the Dodgers runners on first and second with one out in the bottom of the seventh. Austin Brice came on and squashed the threat by inducing pinch-hitter Logan Forsythe into an inning-ending double play.
The Dodgers’ wild comeback in the eighth inning put Kenley Jansen in position to shut the door on the Reds. He did just that by retiring the side in order, converting his 200th career save.
The combined eight home runs set a season high at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies combined for seven homers in April, and so did the Dodgers and Chicago Cubs late last month.
