Elly De La Cruz’s go-ahead blast set the tone as Reds answered every Dodgers push in 6-2 win

Answers came before Los Angeles could settle in

The Dodgers struck first in the third when Will Smith doubled to right and Mookie Betts scored, a neat little opening built by the two hitters who would do most of Los Angeles’ damage. It lasted only until Cincinnati’s turn. Elly De La Cruz drove a 391-foot homer to right in the bottom half, bringing home Matt McLain and flipping a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead that the Reds never gave back.

That rhythm defined the evening. Dane Myers added a solo homer to right-center in the fifth, pushing Cincinnati ahead 3-1. When Los Angeles narrowed it again in the sixth on Tommy Edman’s groundout that brought Kyle Tucker home, the Reds answered immediately once more. Juan Brito singled to right in the bottom of the inning, Sal Stewart scored, and the margin was back to two runs before the Dodgers could turn their run into momentum.

Cincinnati finished the separation job in the seventh. Stewart reached on an infield single that scored McLain for a 5-2 lead, and TJ Friedl followed with a single to center that scored De La Cruz. Stewart was thrown out at home on the play, but the run that mattered crossed, and 6-2 felt far sturdier than the score had an inning earlier. The Reds did not need one avalanche inning; they kept winning the next moment.

The Dodgers kept finding baserunners, not the big swing

There is a strange kind of frustration in a box score like this one. Los Angeles drew eight walks and put seven hits on the board, enough traffic to suggest more than two runs should have been available. Betts went 3-for-4 with a run scored, Smith added two hits, a walk and the RBI double, and the Dodgers reached base 15 times between hits and walks. Yet the club finished without a home run and with only one extra-base hit all night.

That shortage of impact contact left too much of the scoring burden on sequence. Freddie Freeman went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts. Teoscar Hernández was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. Max Muncy and Alex Call also went hitless, and Cincinnati’s defense helped erase some of the pressure by turning three double plays. The Dodgers’ team line told the story bluntly: a .366 on-base percentage, but only eight total bases and a .242 slugging percentage.

The Reds’ pitching line was hardly spotless, which only sharpens the point. Andrew Abbott needed 98 pitches to get through 4 2/3 innings and issued five walks. Cincinnati’s bullpen then covered the final 4 1/3 innings, allowing one run while navigating three more walks. Emilio Pagán’s three-strikeout ninth was the cleanest finish, but the larger truth is that the Dodgers were offered enough openings to do more. They just never found the extra hit that changes an inning instead of merely extending it.

Our take: Cincinnati’s timing beat Los Angeles’ volume

This was a four-run result, but it was really a lesson in efficiency. Cincinnati did not flood the zone with free baserunners; the Reds walked only twice. What they did do was strike cleanly when the game asked for it. De La Cruz supplied the swing that put them ahead for good. Myers added another home run. Stewart and Brito combined for six hits, and McLain scored twice. Add in 13 team hits and three double plays behind the pitchers, and the Reds made their good moments count.

For the Dodgers, the obvious area to revisit is how a lineup turns access into damage. Eight walks and seven hits should create more stress than two runs, especially when Betts and Smith are productive at the top. But Los Angeles finished with no homers, one double and 10 strikeouts, and every run it scored was answered quickly. On the mound, the patchwork game never fully stabilized after the first two innings. Seven Dodgers pitchers were used, and Seth Halvorsen, Bobby Miller and Jack Dreyer were charged with all six Reds runs while allowing 10 hits and two home runs between them.

For Cincinnati, the warning label sits with command, even on a successful night. Abbott’s 98 pitches for 4 2/3 innings and the staff’s eight walks are numbers that can complicate quieter offensive games. Graham Ashcraft added two walks in his inning, another reminder that the Reds gave away more bases than they would prefer. Still, that is the sort of flaw a team can live with on a night when its answers are immediate and its best hitters decide the game before the ninth inning ever matters.

Scoring moments

1. 3rd Inning

   Smith doubled to right, Betts scored.

2. 3rd Inning

   De La Cruz homered to right (391 feet), McLain scored.

3. 5th Inning

   Myers homered to right center (376 feet).

4. 6th Inning

   Edman grounded out to first, Tucker scored, Freeland to second, E. Hernández to third.

5. 6th Inning

   Brito singled to right, Stewart scored, Stephenson to third.

6. 7th Inning

   Stewart reached on infield single to shortstop, McLain scored, De La Cruz to second.

7. 7th Inning

   Friedl singled to center, De La Cruz scored, Hayes to second, Stewart thrown out at home.