Alex Wood once again provided a quality start, and the Los Angeles Dodgers remained undefeated in four games against the Cincinnati Reds this season behind a 3-1 victory at Great American Ball Park. Joc Pederson, Chris Taylor and Alex Wood each finished with one RBI.
Facing the Reds a second time in the past six days, Wood improved on his previous start by allowing one run — on a solo homer — over eight strong innings. Wood allowed just four hits, and finished with five strikeouts to zero walks on an efficient 89 pitches.
He even helped his own cause with a two-out RBI single in the eighth that extended the Dodgers’ lead to 3-0. The insurance run proved key, as Devin Mesoraco hit his solo home run in the home half of the inning.
Wood’s first bit of trouble on the mound came in the bottom of the second inning when Eugenio Suarez led off with a double. He advanced to third base on a grounder, then was thrown out at home plate on a groundball to shortstop.
Wood was spotted a 1-0 lead thanks to Pederson’s solo homer off Tim Adleman in the second inning. The home run was Pederson’s third of the season. He added a ground-rule double in his second at-bat.
After Justin Turner walked and Cody Bellinger singled to keep the third inning alive, Taylor knocked an RBI double. However, it also resulted in the inning coming to an end as Bellinger was thrown out on his attempt to score.
Adleman wound up pitching six innings, with the two runs allowed on five hits, four walks and four strikeouts. It was a second start against the Dodgers in which Adleman surrendered at least one home run, and fourth straight outing overall with a minimum of one homer allowed.
The Reds threatened again in the fifth, on a hit by pitch and single that put two on with one out. Wood escaped the small jam by inducing a 1-4-3 inning-ending double play. He finished his outing by retiring 10 of the last 11 batters faced.
Kenley Jansen allowed a ground-rule double to Billy Hamilton to lead off the bottom of the ninth before proceeding to strike out the side on his next nine pitches to covert a 14th save of the season. Jansen extended his MLB-best streak to 48 strikeouts without a walk to start a season.
