Dodgers Hit 3 Home Runs In 4th, Survive Chase Utley Error In Win Over Reds
Van Slyke improved to 2-for-2 on the night with a solo home run in the fourth inning that extended the Dodgers’ lead to 2-0. A Chase Utley walk was followed by an A.J. Ellis two-run home run. Holmberg’s troubles continued as Hernandez singled up the middle, then with two outs Puig extended his hitting streak with a mammoth two-run home run to center field.
Holmberg’s night came to an end with 89 pitches thrown in just 3.2 innings and six runs allowed on seven hits, including three home runs. Pedro Villarreal entered and needed one pitch to retire Gonzalez to end the inning.
Pitching with a comfortable 6-0 lead, Anderson worked around a leadoff walk in the bottom of the fourth as he followed it by striking out Votto a second time in the game en route to stranding Eugenio Suarez on first base.
Outside of putting Utley on base with two outs on a hit by pitch, Villarreal worked his way through the fifth inning without issue. Living up to his reputation as a ground-ball pitcher, Anderson easily retired the side in the bottom of the fifth, with all three batters grounding out.
In one of the more unusual plays this season, Hernandez hit a leadoff double in the sixth on a broken-bat grounder to shortstop. The barrel followed the ball toward Suarez, who allowed the ball to roll between his legs as he jumped over the wood that flew in his direction.
Nothing came of it for the Dodgers however, as Anderson again failed to get a sacrifice bunt down, and Rollins and Puig couldn’t cash in on the RBI opportunity. Anderson set the Reds down in order in the sixth, to give him nine consecutive batters retired to that point.
Frazier hit a two-out single in the seventh, then Utley helped the Reds keep the inning alive as he dropped a flare into shallow right field, allowing Bruce to reach on the error and Frazier to advance to third.
De Jesus Jr. capitalized on situation by breaking up Anderson’s shutout work with an RBI single to left. A wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position and it cost the Dodgers as Brayan Pena hit a two-run single that cut the Dodgers’ lead to 6-3.
That marked the end of the road for Anderson with he and Van Slyke exiting in favor of Jim Johnson and Andre Ethier as part of a double switch. Johnson went to a full count against pinch-hitter Ryan LaMarre before striking him out to end the inning.
Jason Bourgeois returned the favor of sorts to Utley as he was charged for an error on a sinking line drive single that gifted Utley an extra base. Jumbo Diaz picked his teammate up by retiring the next three batters to keep the Dodgers’ lead at 6-3.
Bourgeois hit a high chopper that skipped off Turner’s glove and resulted in a leadoff double. After getting Suarez to groundout, Johnson gave way to J.P. Howell. The left-handed reliever lost the battle against Votto by walking him, and promptly was removed.
Juan Nicasio took over and gave up an RBI single to Phillips. Nicasio then struck out Frazier and was removed as part of another double switch that brought on Luis Avilan and Carl Crawford with Ethier also exiting.
Just as he did in Tuesday’s win, Avilan struck out Bruce to end the inning in a key situation. A Puig walk in the ninth led to an insurance run for the Dodgers behind Gonzalez’s RBI double.
Kenley Jansen allowed a two-out single to pinch-hitter Skip Schumaker and walked Bourgeois, which meant facing the tying run. He struck out Suarez to wrap up the Dodgers’ 7-4 win and convert his 25th save of the season that also gave Los Angeles their second consecutive win after snapping a five-game losing streak.
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