Kershaw Dazzles Reds, Dodgers Win 8-0 To Snap 3-Game Skid
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Clayton Kershaw yielded four hits over seven masterful innings, Justin Turner homered and the Los Angeles Dodgers ended their three-game losing streak with an 8-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday.
Kershaw (4-2) racked up eight strikeouts with one walk while never allowing Cincinnati to get a runner to third base in his first win over the Reds since 2016. The lefty ace stepped up when the Dodgers desperately needed a strong start, preventing their first four-game losing streak since 2018 and allowing them to finish a 2-5 homestand.
Matt Beaty drove in two runs with a pinch single on his 28th birthday during a six-run eighth inning, and Chris Taylor had an RBI triple and scored two runs as the defending World Series champions won for just the third time in 10 games.
Nick Senzel matched his career high with four hits for the Reds, who wrapped up a 2-4 trip after taking two of three at Chavez Ravine. Senzel got three of Cincinnati's four singles off Kershaw, but the Reds were shut out for the fourth time this season.
Sonny Gray (0-2) pitched four-hit ball into the sixth while striking out 11 — the most by any pitcher against the Dodgers this year. Gray yielded four hits and three walks, but left trailing 2-0.
While Gray's bounce-back start was good, the 33-year-old Kershaw is still firmly on top of his game: He has pitched at least six innings with at least six strikeouts in five consecutive starts since opening day.
Turner hit his sixth homer deep into the left field bleachers in the third. The RBI was the 20th in just 23 games for Turner, a former Reds draft pick.
Taylor tripled over Nicholas Castellanos in right field in the eighth, scoring Turner from first. Beaty and Mookie Betts added two-out, two-RBI singles off Sal Romano.
INFIELDER PITCHING
After Romano yielded four hits, four walks and six runs, Reds infielder Alex Blandino took the mound and recorded the last out of the eighth, getting Turner to fly out on an 86-mph pitch.
Blandino had pitched once previously in 2018, and he preserved his career 0.00 ERA.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Reds: OF Shogo Akiyama will play an intrasquad game Thursday. He is on the 10-day injured list with a strained hamstring, but is likely to make his 2021 debut next week.
Dodgers: SS Corey Seager got a scheduled rest day. He had played in 23 of LA's first 24 games.
UP NEXT
Reds: After an off day, Wade Miley (2-2, 2.45 ERA) takes the mound Friday at home to face the Cubs. He has a career 4.50 ERA against Chicago.
Dodgers: Trevor Bauer (3-0, 2.53 ERA) takes the mound in Milwaukee on Thursday. The Cy Young Award winner struck out 32 in 20 1/3 innings against the Brewers over three starts last season with Cincinnati.
(© Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
