After dropping the series finale to the Philadelphia Phillies, the Los Angeles Dodgers need a victory Friday night against the Cincinnati Reds to ensure they’d remain in first place in the National League West.
Coming off 14 consecutive scoreless innings in Triple-A, Tim Adleman kept the Dodgers off the board in the first inning. Justin Turner hit a two-out triple to center field, benefitting from Billy Hamilton coming up empty on a diving catch attempt.
However, Josh Reddick’s struggles and brush with bad luck continued as he struck out on three pitches. Reddick should have been awarded first base on the second pitch of his at-bat because of catcher’s interference.
That wasn’t called, and it isn’t a reviewable play. Bud Norris, who was activated from the disabled list on Friday, had trouble from the get-go.
He asked the grounds crew to work on the mound prior to finishing his warmup tosses, and promptly issued a leadoff walk. After a hit-and-run put runners on the corners, Joey Votto’s fly ball to center field carried over the fence for a three-run homer.
Norris’ troubles continued as Brandon Philips and Eugenio Suarez connected on back-to-back singles, with the latter coming as part of another hit-and-run. However, the right-hander worked out of trouble on a Scott Schebler fly out and Tony Renda double play.
Adrian Gonzalez led off the second inning with a drive to left field that Renda initially made the catch on but dropped as he crashed into the fencing. Yasmani Grandal tested Renda with a nearly identical play, which the left fielder made the catch on.
Gonzalez tagged on the play, and Adleman hit Joc Pederson with a pitch on a 1-2 count to put runners on the corners with one out. Any thoughts of a rally came crashing down as Howie Kendrick hit into an inning-ending double play.
Norris hit a leadoff single in the third, Corey Seager walked with one out, and Reddick worked a two-out walk to load the bases. But Gonzalez swung at the first offering from Adleman and flied out to left.
Norris tossed a 1-2-3 inning to give him eight consecutive batters retired through the third. Pederson fouled off several pitches and worked a full count before being hit on the elbow with the 13th pitch of his at-bat.
Kendrick drove a ball to deep center but it was caught on the warning track, and Adleman then popped Norris up to end a fourth scoreless inning of work. Suarez led off the bottom of the fourth with a base hit to left and soon after moved into scoring position on a wild pitch.
Schebler’s grounder to the right side advanced Suarez another 90 feet. Tucker Barnhart was intentionally walked with two outs in a decision that backfired. Adleman helped his cause by lining a two-run double to right-center field on an 0-2 pitch for his first career Major League hit and RBI.
After Ivan De Jesus Jr. kept the inning alive with a single that loaded the bases, Votto worked a walk to bring a run in and extend the Reds’ lead to 6-0. Jesse Chavez took over for Norris and retired Phillips to end the inning.
Utley and Seager combined for back-to-back singles with no outs in the fifth. Turner nearly got the Dodgers on the board but his drive to straightaway center was caught in front of the wall. Both runners tagging on Turner’s fly ball was to no avail.
Adleman retired Reddick and Gonzalez to end a fifth shutout inning. The Dodgers stranded eight runners to that point and were 0-for-8 with men in scoring position. Ross Ohlendorf retired the Dodgers in order in the sixth, marking the first inning Los Angeles didn’t have a baserunner.
J.P. Howell worked around a one-out single in the bottom half of the sixth to keep the Reds’ lead at 6-0. Rob Segedin worked a leadoff walk in the seventh, which was followed by an Utley single to right field that put runners on the corners.
Seager’s RBI base hit got the Dodgers on the board, but it was their only run scored in the inning. Ohlendorf struck out Turner, then Michael Lorenzen retired Reddick and Gonzalez. Votto and Phillips greeted Pedro Baez with consecutive base hits in the bottom of the seventh.
Baez rebounded to get a pair of strikeouts, only to give up a three-run homer to Lorenzen. Baez then struck out Barnhart to end the inning. The Dodgers scored a run on A.J. Ellis’ groundout in the ninth and dropped the series opener to the Reds, 9-2.
