Betts and Yamamoto fuel Dodgers' Wild Card Series sweep in 8-4 win over the Cincinnati Reds
Mookie Betts hit three doubles and drove in three runs, Yoshinobu Yamamoto contained the Reds' bats and the Dodgers overcame an early error to sweep the Wild Card Series on Wednesday night with an 8-4 victory.
With Dodgers' ace Yamamoto on the mound for what looked to be a clean first inning incoming, right fielder Teoscar Hernández fumbled an easy fly ball, which moved two runners into scoring position. The next hitter, Cincinnati's Sal Stewart, singled to center to give the away team an early 2-0 lead.
It didn't take long for the Boys and Blue to storm back though, scoring one run in the third on a Mookie Betts single and another in the fourth thanks to a Kiké Hernández double. Miguel Rojas then singled to drive Hernández in and give them the lead.
Yamamoto escaped a bases-loaded jam in the sixth inning after the Reds put together three straight hits, getting two strikeouts to end the frame. Apart from that, he cruised through the rest of his outing, striking out nine and allowing just four hits through six and 2/3 innings. Both of the runs he allowed were unearned.
The Dodgers added some insurance in the sixth inning thanks to timely hits from Shohei Ohtani, Betts and Teoscar Hernández, who made it 7-2 heading into the latter half of the game.
Blake Treinen made an appearance out of the pen to relieve Yamamoto in the seventh, quickly getting TJ Friedl to fly out and end the inning with two runners still on base.
In the seventh inning, Betts sliced another double down the left field line, marking his fourth hit of the night, to drive in his third run of the game and push LA's lead to 8-2.
Emmett Sheehan earned just one out in a shaky eighth inning, allowing two runs on two hits and a walk. Dodgers skipper Dave Roberts pulled Sheehan and opted for lefty Alex Vesia with the Reds' Will Benson coming to the plate. He promptly got him to strike out before walking Matt McClain to load the bases.
Vesia got the next batter, Friedl, to strike out looking on a perfectly placed slider, again getting the Boys in Blue out of a bases-loaded jam.
Roberts tapped Japanese rookie Roki Sasaski for the ninth inning, who blew the Reds away with two strikeouts before getting a weak lineout to short to secure the sweep.
The Dodgers are now slated to take on the National League's top seed — the Philadelphia Phillies — in the NL Division Series. The first game is scheduled for Saturday, Oct 4. The starting time still hasn't yet been announced.