The Los Angeles Dodgers turned on the power to avoid a series sweep and return home tied for first place in the National League West for the start of a three-game series against the Cincinnati Reds beginning Monday.
The Dodgers went a disappointing 3-4 during a seven-game road trip to Colorado and San Diego. They salvaged the final game Sunday when Freddie Freeman hit two home runs and rookie Dalton Rushing ripped a go-ahead three-run shot in a five-run seventh inning.
“Huge hit for Dalton and that is something where I’m sure he’s going to build off that moment with confidence,” manager Dave Roberts said of Rushing’s third career homer in his 39th game. “Big hit to help us get a win today. Obviously we needed it and our guys delivered.”
The Dodgers are set to send right-hander Emmet Sheehan (4-2, 4.17 ERA) to the mound Monday to begin a six-game homestand that also includes a visit from the Arizona Diamondbacks.
At Colorado on Tuesday, Sheehan gave up four runs on six hits, including two home runs, over six innings yet still earned the win in the team’s 11-4 victory.
Shohei Ohtani was 0-for-10 with two walks and a run in the three games against the Padres before hitting a home run in the ninth inning Sunday, his 45th of the season.
Sheehan has two appearances (one start) against the Reds, going 0-1 without allowing an earned run over 8 2/3 innings. The defeat came in a 5-2 loss in Cincinnati on July 30.
Los Angeles is close to getting back a pair of utility players in Hyeseong Kim (shoulder) and Enrique Hernandez (elbow).
The Reds will counter Monday with right-hander Hunter Greene, who will be making another Los Angeles homecoming. Greene (5-3, 2.63) has a career record of 1-2 with a 4.37 ERA in four starts against the Dodgers.
Greene’s most recent start also was in the area Tuesday when he matched a season high with 12 strikeouts and gave up three runs on six hits over 6 1/3 innings against the Los Angeles Angels. He did not get a decision in the 6-4 win in Anaheim.
The Reds have come away with victories in both of Greene’s starts since a lengthy rehab from a groin injury that forced him to miss two months.
“I feel like my process is solid, and obviously our team has given a lot,” Greene said. “I don’t nearly have the amount of innings that I’ve had in the past, so there is a lot that I do owe this team, and I feel that, and I know that, and I embrace it. … (The bullpen) has been grinding all year, and I care about that and I’m considerate about that.”
The Reds had a chance to tie the New York Mets for the final wild-card spot in the NL on Wednesday but lost to the Angels. They went to Arizona and lost the first two games of the series to the Diamondbacks before pulling off a 6-1 victory Sunday.
Austin Hays had three hits with an RBI Sunday, while Spencer Steer had a home run among his two hits with three RBIs.
The Reds won two of three games against the Dodgers when the teams played at Cincinnati in late July. The Reds’ Gavin Lux, who helped the Dodgers to last year’s World Series title, will receive his championship ring this week.
The Reds are 1 1/2 games behind the Mets for the final wild card in the NL.
–Field Level Media
