Noah Syndergaard again struggled through a short start and he squandered two leads in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 8-6 loss to the Cincinnati Reds. The walk-off win was the Reds’ fifth this season and second in a row.
Meanwhile, the Dodgers are mired in their first four-game losing streak of the season. Tuesday’s defeat was only the second time this year L.A had lost three consecutive games.
Mookie Betts got the Dodgers going with his sixth leadoff home run this season, and Max Muncy added an RBI single to stake Syndergaard a 2-0 lead before he threw a single pitch.
He nearly managed to uphold it through the first inning but surrendered a game-tying, two-run home run to Reds rookie Elly De La Cruz on a 458-foot blast that reached the last row of the stands in right field at hitter-friendly Great American Ball Park.
The scoring continued in the second inning when Miguel Vargas led off with a home run. Will Smith then hit a two-run homer in the third and Vargas added an RBI double.
But like when the Dodgers took their initial lead, Syndergaard failed to keep them ahead.
Matt McLain’s leadoff triple in the bottom of the third was followed by a sacrifice fly. De La Cruz then tripled and was driven in on an RBI single. Tyler Stephenson kept the string of hits going with a two-run home run that pulled the Reds even.
Syndergaard wound up pitching just three innings, while allowing the six runs and also giving up four stolen bases. The outing was Syndergaard’s shortest start — when excluding the one inning he pitched against the Milwaukee Brewers on May 9 before coming out because the cut/blister on his right index finger opened.
Brandon Williamson settled in after Vargas’ RBI double as he retired eight batters in a row to get through five innings. That was part of a stretch that saw the Dodgers go 0-for-20, which kept pressure on their bullpen in what already was a challenging night to make up for Syndergaard’s short start.
A stable of Dodgers relief pitchers initially was up to task, but Evan Phillips faltered in the ninth when he gave up the first home run Benson has hit this season.
Dodgers rookies
Jonny DeLuca twice made solid contact but went 0-for-2 with a walk in his MLB debut. DeLuca was pinch-hit for by David Peralta to lead off the ninth inning.
Nick Robertson also made his debut and impressed with three strikeouts over two perfect innings.
DeLuca and Robertson became the first set of Dodgers teammates to make their respective MLB debuts in the same game since Joc Pederson and Yimi García on September 1, 2014.
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