
Dateline: Cincinnati
Yoshinobu Yamamoto beat the Reds 14-1 in his last start on September 9. Tuesday night (091526) He made the 4-0 win by his Los Angeles Dodgers win over the Reds look just as lopsided.
The Reds were shut out for the 17th time this season.
It was the the 10th win in a row for the Dodgers over the Reds, including the two-game playoff sweep from last season. The Reds dropped to a season-low 11 games under .500 at 70-81. The Reds will have to win all 11 games to break even on the season.
The Dodgers scored in the second inning against Reds' starter, Rhett Lowder. Max Muncy was hit with a pitch and scored when Tommy Edman and Hunter Feduccia singled.
If Teoscar Hernandez doesn't stop hitting Reds' pitchers, he will be on the most wanted poster in every post office in six counties. He hit another two-out, two-run home run off Reds' pitching over the last two games. It was his 15th home run of the season.
He has hit safely against the Reds in 23 straight games. He is now 30-for-81 (.370) lifetime. He has 9-for-13 with three home runs this season in just five games.
Lowder pitched five innings, allowing three runs on five hits, two walks and two hit batters. He struck out four and escaped two innings inducing double play ground balls.
"He threw a lot of pitches. It's a shame. He had a nice three or four pitch inning then it's a walk and a home run." Terry Francona said. "I told him I thought he threw better the last inning and there will be times, I will send him back out there but people forget he didn't pitch a lot of innings last year. His velocity was up a tick."
Julian Garcia took over for the Reds in the sixth inning.
Alex Freeland hit a "Tommy Helms" wall scraper for his fourth home run of the season in the seventh inning. Pierce Johnson wasn't hit hard but it was just inside the foul pole and just where the left field wall bend eight feet toward the foul line.
Tommy Helms famously hit the Reds' first home run at Riverfront Stadium on a ball that just clipped the foul pole.
The Reds third double play was extremely unusual. First of all Graham Ashcraft struck out Teoscar Hernandez which was rare enough. With Kyle Tucker, who walked for the second time. Max Muncy hit a slow ground ball to Juan Brito at third base. Brito was on the infield grass when he made the throw. Sal Stewart took the throw. Tucker saw that third base was undefended and took off for it. Elly De La Cruz took off after him and Stewart hit him on the run, like he was Joe Burrow. De La Cruz dived and applied the tag on the sliding Tucker for the rare 5-6-3 double play.
"I wish Ashcraft or (Will) Banfield would have covered third but it was a great play," Francona said.
Yamamoto pitched seven innings for the second straight start against the Reds. In Los Angeles in his last start on September 9, Yamamoto allowed a home run of 444' feet to De La Cruz. He walked Carlos Jorge and De La Cruz the first two batters of the game but retired 20 of the last 21 batters he faced. De La Cruz doubled in the third inning then put down the last 13 batters.
"You know when I talk about our pitchers, you have to respect a couple of pitches with him, you have to respect five," Francona said.
The Reds last gasp was against Tanner Scott. Pinch hitter Dane Myers walked De La Cruz singled for his second hit to put his average at .286.
Scott struck out Stewart, pinch hitter Jose Trevino and Eugenio Suarez to finish the game.
