The Los Angeles Dodgers evened up the series with a 7-3 win against the Cincinnati Reds thanks to a three home run night as a team.
After a clean top of the first from James Paxton, Mookie Betts got the Dodgers on the board first with a leadoff homer against Frankie Montas.
Later in the third inning, Shohei Ohtani made it a 3-0 Dodgers lead with his two-run home run on the first annual Shohei Ohtani Day in the city of Los Angeles that was made official earlier in the day.
The Dodgers went scoreless until the seventh inning, which allowed the Reds to crawl their way back into the game with three straight one-run innings in the fourth, fifth, and sixth. With Ohtani in scoring position, the Reds elected to intentionally walk Freddie Freeman which brought Will Smith to the plate.
Smith came through with a clutch two-out single to bring home Ohtani and give the lead back to the Dodgers, and Freeman later scored on a wild pitch make it a 5-3 L.A. lead.
Mookie Betts doing Mookie Betts things.
(🎥: @MLB) pic.twitter.com/8bhzltszDF— Dodger Blue (@DodgerBlue1958) May 18, 2024
Celebrate Shohei Ohtani Day with a homer.
(🎥: @MLB) pic.twitter.com/0HN2Fbiaih— Dodger Blue (@DodgerBlue1958) May 18, 2024
The Reds made a mess, so Will Smith cleaned it up.
(🎥: @Dodgers) pic.twitter.com/rYKJAXCXdT— Dodger Blue (@DodgerBlue1958) May 18, 2024
Jason Heyward's first homer of the season!
(🎥: @Dodgers) pic.twitter.com/N5MKSD4nM1— Dodger Blue (@DodgerBlue1958) May 18, 2024
In his first game back from injury, Jason Heyward homered in the eighth inning to extend the Dodgers lead to 7-3.
Paxton pitched a solid six innings, but received a no-decision thanks to the three runs he gave up in his final three innings of work, including solo home runs in the fifth and sixth innings. He gave up three runs in a start for just the second time this season, but he also finished with no walks allowed for a second consecutive start.
Dodgers restart 4-runs or less streak
A day after the Reds broke the Dodgers streak of allowing 4-runs or fewer at 22 games, which beat the previous franchise record of 17 games, Paxton and the bullpen rebounded to hold their opponents to three runs. A big reason for this success has been the Dodgers bullpen, which has been tops in the Majors since April 21.
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