The Los Angeles Dodgers and Cincinnati Reds met Friday night at Great American Ball Park for a fourth time in the past week. Los Angeles swept the previous series at Dodger Stadium, and entered having won 14 of the last 16 head-to-head meetings with Cincinnati.
Joc Pederson opened the scoring with a solo home run off Tim Adleman in the second inning. It was the second consecutive start against the Dodgers in which Adleman surrendered at least one home run, and fourth straight outing overall.
After retiring the first two batters faced in the third inning, Adleman walked Justin Turner and allowed a base hit to Corey Seager. That led to a Chris Taylor RBI double, though Bellinger was thrown out at home plate to end the inning.
The two early runs were more than enough for Alex Wood, who turned in yet another dominant performance. Wood scattered three hits and carried a shut out into the eighth inning.
Devin Mesoraco’s solo home run with two outs in the bottom of the eighth ended that bid but hardly put a damper on Wood’s outing. He finished with five strikeouts against zero walks in eight efficient innings (89 pitches).
Prior to allowing the home run and exiting the game, Wood helped his cause in the top of the eighth with a two-out RBI single on the first pitch he saw. It was his second time reaching as Wood also worked a two-out walk in the fourth inning.
The hit was Wood’s second this season and the 11th RBI of his career.
