And for the Reds it was their seventh straight defeat, and they lost all six games on the homestand, three to Milwaukee and three to Los Angeles.
During the Dodgers series, the Reds were outscored 26-11 and were outhit, 42-24. And for the season, LA outscored the Reds, 52-18. In five of the seven games, LA scored eight, nine or 10 runs.
That is spelled t-o-t-a-l d-o-m-i-n-a-n-c-e.
On Thursday, the Dodgers hit five home runs and after they didn’t score in the first, they scored in each of the last eight innings — 012-211-111 — 10.
The match-up Thursday pitted Reds’ rookie Hunter Greene against LA’s three-time Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw.
That, too, was a mismatch.
Greene (3-8, 5.66) gave up three home runs in five innings and leads MLB with 20 home runs allowed. He was torched for six runs and nine hits during his five innings.
Kershaw (5-1, 2.00) displayed his veteran experience. Over six innings, the Reds hit safely seven times and put their leadoff hitter on base four times. Each time Kershaw faced pending trouble, he managed one of his seven strikeouts.
The Dodgers scored a run in the second on Clay Bellinger’s sacrifice fly and scored two more in the third on Freddie Freeman’s second homer in two games, this one that nearly knocked down the smokestacks in right center.
Another two-run home run, this one by Clay Bellinger in the fourth, made it 5-0.
The Reds put their first three runners on base in the fourth, but scored only one run, a single by Donovan Solano.
LA’s third homer off Greene came in the fifth, a solo blast by Max Muncy, his first home run since mid-May, and that made it 6-1.
Reds relief pitcher Jeff Hoffman contributed to LA’s home run happiness by giving up one to the first batter (Will Smith) he faced in the seventh and it was 8-1.
The Reds, thrilled to see Kershaw depart after six, scored four runs in the seventh, three on a home run by Tommy Pham off Phil Bickford.
Just when it looked as if the Reds were back in it, Freeman struck again. Ross Detwiler began the eighth and gave up a single and a walk. He had Freeman 0-and-2, fell behind 3-and-2, and Freeman lined a run-scoring single to left, his 10th RBI of the series.
Art Warren arrived for the ninth and his first pitch to Trayce Thompson ended up in the left field seats, LA’s fifth home run of the day.
One bright spot during the series for the Reds was the hitting of infielder Solano. He spent the entire season on the injured list until Tuesday and was 4 for 8, including three hits Thursday, including a pair of doubles.
The Reds sprayed 13 hits around GABP Thursday but were 3 for 13 with runners in scoring position and stranded seven.
A hidden clue to Cincinnati’s pitching problems was the fact they walked LA catcher Austin Barnes three times. Barnes, batting ninth, was 0 for 11 coming into the game and was hitting .191.
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