CINCINNATI (AP) If the Los Angeles Dodgers fall short in the competitive NL West, they can blame Scooter Gennett and the Cincinnati Reds.
Gennett snapped out of an 0-for-9 slump with four hits and three RBIs, Joey Votto hit a two-run double on his birthday and the Reds improved to 5-0 against the Dodgers this season with a 10-6 victory Monday night.
”I’ve had a couple rough games in a row,” Gennett said. ”It’s good to have a short memory sometimes. You can’t let a couple bad games dictate attitude or focus.”
Eugenio Suarez added a solo home run for the last-place Reds, and Jose Peraza scored three runs. That helped Cincinnati overcome Chris Taylor’s two-run homer and Yasmani Grandal’s solo shot.
Los Angeles dropped 1+ games behind first-place Colorado when the Rockies routed visiting Arizona. The Dodgers had taken two of three at Coors Field last weekend to trim their deficit.
The Reds won the series opener after a four-game sweep at Dodger Stadium in May.
”The first time around, they pitched us well, and we still haven’t figured out how to get Gennett out,” Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said. ”Obviously, we don’t expect to be 0-5 against anybody.”
Jared Hughes (4-3) got Yasiel Puig to line into a bases-loaded double play to end the seventh after an 11-pitch at-bat.
”We were one hit away from it being a completely different game,” Roberts said.
Hughes added a perfect eighth to get the win.
”That was the second time this year I’ve faced Puig with runners on and he’s hit a line drive to third,” said Hughes, who fell behind Puig with a 2-0 count. ”Before that he was 4 for 4 against me with two home runs. I think that is the line.”
Gennett went 4 for 5 to boost his batting average to .320 with his sixth multihit game in his last nine appearances. He took over the league lead from Milwaukee outfielder Christian Yelich, who is hitting .315.
Votto, celebrating his 35th birthday, just missed a three-run homer in Cincinnati’s four-run first inning, settling for a two-run double with a drive that bounced off the yellow padding along the top of the right-field wall and stayed in play.
Alex Wood (8-7) was knocked around in his shortest outing in 14 starts since lasting a season-low two innings on June 3 at Colorado. The Reds piled up eight hits and seven runs, six earned, against him with two walks and six strikeouts. The seven runs allowed matched Wood’s season high, set on April 11 in the third of his team-high 27 starts.
”It was one of those nights when I didn’t have anything,” Wood said. ”You try to battle, but this is not a place where you can come and not be sharp and expect to do well.”
Taylor hit his second homer in three games off left-hander Cody Reed, who overcame a 30-pitch first inning to last four. He gave up five hits and three runs with three walks and five strikeouts.
Reed struck out Enrique Hernandez to leave the bases loaded in the first.
BEEN A WHILE
The Reds’ five-game winning streak against Los Angeles is their longest since winning seven straight in 1976.
POWER SURGE
The Dodgers have hit at least one home run in 18 straight games, the longest streak since the team moved to Los Angeles in 1958. The franchise record is 24 in a row, set by Brooklyn in 1953.
FAR EAST-BOUND
Suarez and Taylor will be among the major leaguers headed to Japan to play seven games against Japanese players in November.
BACK TO EARTH
Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen rejoined the team in Cincinnati after avoiding Denver. Jansen developed an irregular heartbeat on the team’s last Colorado trip and the team cardiologist advised him not to pitch at higher altitudes.
ROSS GETS NOD
Dodgers RHP Ross Stripling (8-3) will start Wednesday’s series finale, Roberts said. LHP Clayton Kershaw was originally scheduled to start before being pushed back a day to start at St. Louis on Thursday. The start will be Stripling’s 18th, and first since Aug. 9. He came off the disabled list Friday after being out since Aug. 12 with lower back inflammation.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Dodgers: LHP Julio Urias was activated from the disabled list after missing more than a year following left shoulder surgery in June 2017.
Reds: LHP Amir Garrett was activated off the DL. Garrett was out since Aug. 29 with a bruised left foot.
UP NEXT
Dodgers: LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu (4-2), the scheduled starter Tuesday at Cincinnati, allowed 10 hits and five runs – one earned – in six innings of Los Angeles’ 7-3 loss to the Mets last Wednesday.
Reds: RHP Luis Castillo (8-12) was tagged for a career-high three homers in his last start Thursday against San Diego.
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