Hanigan's Double Leads Reds Past Dodgers, LA Loses 4th In A Row
CINCINNATI (CBSLA.com/AP) — Ryan Hanigan's RBI double in the ninth inning drove in Zack Cozart from first base to lift the Cincinnati Reds to a 3-2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday night.
Cozart, who had extended his career-high hitting streak to 13 games earlier, started the rally with a one-out single to left off Ronald Belisario (5-7). Hanigan lined the next pitch past left fielder Carl Crawford to the wall, and Cozart beat shortstop Hanley Ramirez's relay throw with a headfirst slide.
Aroldis Chapman (4-5) pitched a perfect ninth with two strikeouts to get the win, which completed the Reds' first sweep of a three-game series against the Dodgers in Cincinnati since June 12-14, 1992.
Jay Bruce hit two home runs for the Reds, who went into the game in third place in the NL Central, two games behind first-place St. Louis, which beat second-place Pittsburgh earlier Sunday.
The loss was the Dodgers' fourth straight, their longest losing streak since a season-high eight-game skid May 1-10.
Bruce gave the Reds a 1-0 lead with one out in the second with his 28th homer of the season and the first by a left-handed batter off Clayton Kershaw since June 15, 2012. Bruce's 374-foot fly ball into the netting above the visitors' bullpen down the right field line was the first homer allowed by Kershaw in 58 innings.
Homer Bailey retired the first 11 Los Angeles batters he faced, seven on strikeouts, including six straight before Adrian Gonzalez singled and scored from first on Ramirez's double off the left-center field wall.
Bruce responded by clubbing his second homer in two at bats, a 382-foot blast into the right field seats leading off the fourth. Both shots were on 1-0 pitches. The multi-homer game was his second of the season and 14th of his career.
Ramirez came up with his second game-tying hit of the game, leading off the seventh with his 17th home run of the season and second of the series, a 399-foot drive into the left field seats on a 1-1 pitch.
Bailey lasted seven innings, allowing two runs and six hits with nine strikeouts. He also hit a batter.
Bruce's two solo homers were the only runs allowed by Kershaw, who gave up four hits with three walks and seven strikeouts. He hit two batters and was charged with a balk.
It is the first time since early May that the Dodgers have lost four in a row.
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