Shohei Ohtani gets first win, Dodgers strike out a franchise record 19 in 5-1 sweep of Reds – NBC Los Angeles

Shohei Ohtani struck out a season-high nine in five innings for his first victory for the Dodgers as Los Angeles beat Cincinnati 5-1 on Wednesday night to become the first team in all of MLB to sweep the Reds this season.

The Dodgers won their fourth straight game and extended their NL West lead to two games over San Diego, which lost 4-3 at Seattle. The victory also catapulted the Dodgers into the second-seed in the National League over the Philadelphia Phillies with 28 games remaining on the season.

Ohtani (1-1) bounced back against the Reds in his 11th start of the season and first in which he went the minimum five innings to qualify for a win. The victory was his first since Aug. 9, 2023, with the Angels against San Francisco.

The two-way star allowed one run and two hits while walking two on a season-high 87 pitches, 53 for strikes, while retiring his final eight batters on his bobblehead night. At the plate, he was 1 for 5 with a run.

The Reds led 1-0 on Noelvi Marte’s 410-foot homer on the first pitch by Ohtani in the third. It was the third homer Ohtani has allowed this season.

The Dodgers scored four runs to take a 4-1 lead in the fourth. Kiké Hernández, starting in place of injured Freddie Freeman, had a two-run single up the middle. It was the third straight single allowed by Nick Lodolo (8-7), who retired the first nine batters he faced.

Lodolo intentionally walked Miguel Rojas and Dalton Rushing followed with a two-run single to center.

Michael Conforto added a solo shot in the eighth.

Conforto’s homer was his first off a left-handed pitcher this season, and his first home run since July 27th.

The Dodgers led the Majors with 42 come-from-behind victories this season, and have won four in a for the first time since June 29 – July 3.

The Reds were the only team in MLB not to have been swept in a series this season, a streak of 43 consecutive series. It was the fourth-longest streak in their franchise history.

Key moment

Ohtani pitched his way out of trouble in the second. With one out, he walked Spencer Steer and Jose Trevino back-to-back. They moved up on two wild pitches — Ohtani’s seventh and eighth of the season — before Ke’Bryan Hayes and Matt McLain went down swinging to end the inning.

Key stats

Los Angeles pitchers struck out a franchise record 19 batters for a nine-inning game.

Up next

After off days for both teams, Reds RHP Zack Littell (9-8, 3.62 ERA) starts Friday at home against St. Louis. Dodgers LHP Blake Snell (3-2, 1.97) starts Friday against visiting Arizona.