The Cincinnati Reds were hoping to sweep the Dodgers on Thursday afternoon, but Clayton Kershaw had other idea and the Los Angeles hitters had his back. After scoring three runs in both the 3rd and 4th innings the Dodgers cruised to a 6-0 shutout win to salvage a win and avoid dropping all three games at Great American Ball Park.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Dodgers (36-27) |
6 | 12 | 0 |
| Cincinnati Reds (29-34) |
0 | 6 | 0 |
| W: Kershaw (8-4) L: Ashcraft (3-5) | |||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
Neither team was able to get much going in the 1st inning. In the next inning Elly De La Cruz led off with an infield single – recording the top sprint speed by a Red this year from home to first – and then stole second base. He’d be stranded there.
The top of the 3rd inning didn’t go the Reds, or Graham Ashcraft’s way. James Outman was hit by a pitch and then Austin Barnes followed up with a comebacker off of Ashcraft’s foot/lower leg. An out was recorded, but the training staff came out to check on him and after a long conversation and a few throws off of the mound he remained in the game. He then hit Mookie Betts, gave up an RBI single to Freddie Freeman. The training staff then came back out to look at Ashcraft. He remained in the game. After a line out, Max Muncy drew a walk to load the bases. David Peralta then came through with a 2-run single where the Reds challenged the play at the plate, but the call on the field stood and it was 3-0.
That was it for Ashcraft as David Bell went to talk to him and then called on Fernando Cruz from the bullpen. Ashcraft limped off of the field under his own power. Cruz got a quick fly out to center to end the inning. After a quick bottom of the 3rd inning, Cruz was back out for the top of the 4th and gave up a leadoff solo homer to Chris Taylor that extended the Dodgers lead to 4-0. That was just the start of things for Los Angeles. James Outman walked and then scored on an Austin Barnes double. He’d move to third on a single by Mookie Betts then score on a sacrifice fly that made it 6-0.
Cincinnati got a 2-out single from Jose Barrero and then a walk from Curt Casali to put two men on base, but Clayton Kershaw struck out Kevin Newman to end any threat the Reds had going. In the 6th inning the Reds once again got two men on, but this time it was on singles to start the inning from Matt McLain and Jonathan India, but they would be stranded as the Dodgers kept their shutout going. Two innings later Matt McLain picked up a 1-out double to get himself in scoring position, but the Reds once again failed to come through and the game headed into the 9th inning. Cincinnati came up short, going down in order as the Dodgers picked up a 6-0 win and avoided being swept.
Key Moment of the Game
The third inning when the Dodgers scored three runs and unintentionally knocked Graham Ashcraft out of the game.
Notes Worth Noting
Matt McLain picked up two hits – the only Red with multiple hits on the day – and is now hitting .354/.404/.531 through the first 22 games of his career.
Alex Young tossed a shutout inning of relief and lowered his ERA on the year to 2.84 in the process.
Since 1901, Players with at least one 1B, 2B, 3B, HR, and SB within their first 3 MLB games
2023 – Elly De La Cruz (Reds)
1953 – Bill Bruton (Braves)— Joel Luckhaupt (@jluckhaupt) June 8, 2023
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds vs St. Louis Cardinals
Friday June 9th, 8:15pm ET
Ben Lively (3-3, 3.03 ERA) vs Jordan Montgomery (2-7, 4.23 ERA)
