Editorials

Dodgers-Reds Series Recap: Puig Walkoff Wins Series Sunday Afternoon

After a historic roadtrip that saw them sweep all six games in Washington and Toronto, the Dodgers returned home to face the Cincinnati Reds for four games over the weekend.

A long travel day on Wednesday got the Dodgers into Los Angeles at the wee hours of Thursday morning as the Dodgers looked to continue their winning ways.



The Reds were fresh off a sweep of the Giants in San Francisco and were the second Wild Card team while they hoped to make up ground in the NL Central.

Here’s a recap of the four games with the Reds at Dodger Stadium:

Thursday, Dodgers lose 5-2

After a long six-game road trip, the Dodgers were due for a loss and facing Mat Latos, he was pretty much un-hittable. Dodgers starter Zack Greinke was pitching the best he had as a Dodgers, but gave up a solo home run to Xavier Paul in the first inning and an RBI single to Cesar Izturis to put the Dodgers in an early 2-0 hole.

An RBI groundout from Adrian Gonzalez cut the lead in half, but a two-run opposite field home run from Jay Bruce in the sixth inning put the game out of reach, 4-1.

Leading 5-2 in the 9th, Reds closer Aroldis Chapman showed off his arm as he hit 100 or 102 mph on the radar gun consistently to notch his 24th save of the season.

Friday, Dodgers win 2-1

In typical Clayton Kershaw fashion, the Dodgers ace delivered another brilliant performance against the Reds as he fired eight innings of one-run ball while striking out eight and walking none.

Scoreless through five innings, Hanley Ramirez continued his incredible play as he launched a two-run home run in the sixth inning to give Kershaw all the runs he needed.

Jay Bruce cut the Dodger lead in half with an RBI single in the seventh, but Kenley Jansen came on in the ninth to register his 13th save of the season.

Saturday, Dodgers win 4-1

Dodgers starter Hyun-Jin Ryu has been so much better at Dodger Stadium this season and it showed on Saturday as he went seven innings allowing just one run.

Ramirez started the scoring yet again with an RBI double, but Bruce countered yet again with a solo home run to right field as the Reds and Dodgers were tied at one through four innings.

In the fifth, Skip Schumaker, who grew up in LA, hit a monster two-run home run to deep center to give the Dodgers a 3-1 lead. Gonzalez provided the insurance in the seventh with an RBI single and Jansen came on to pick up his second save of the series, 14th of the season.

Reds starter Bronson Arroyo was 6-0 coming off a Reds loss before his start, but only pitched 5.1 innings allowing three runs and only striking out one.

Sunday, Dodgers win 1-0

It was a tough day for the Dodgers against lefty Tony Cingrani since they’d never seen him in person before and he had everyone off balance.

Cingrani finished the day with 11 strikeouts and allowed only one hit to his counterpart, Chris Capuano. Speaking of Capuano, the Dodgers fifth starter was great on Sunday in 6.2 innings.

All in all, the Dodgers struck out 20 times and continued to strand runners especially in the 10th inning after having two on with only one out.

However, in the 11th inning, Yasiel Puig cranked a walkoff solo home run to give the Dodgers the series lead and a 2.5 game lead in the NL West.

Next up for the Dodgers is an off day tomorrow and then it’s two games at home against the New York Yankees, who also won in walkoff fashion.

 

Ross Gasmer

Ross Gasmer is a Social Media Producer for @TheHerd and was a contributing writer and editor for Dodger Nation. Follow him on Twitter @Ross_Gasmer12

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