Tarik Skubal pitched into the eighth inning, Will Smith hit his first home run since May and the Los Angeles Dodgers increased their winning streak to six games with a 3-2 victory over the visiting Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday.
Teoscar Hernandez continued his hot run with a go-ahead RBI single in the fifth inning as the Dodgers remained 1 1/2 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers in the battle for the best record in the major leagues.
In his seventh start since joining the Dodgers from the Detroit Tigers at the trade deadline, Skubal (9-7) gave up two runs on four hits over 7 1/3 innings with two walks and five strikeouts.
Los Angeles played for the fifth time in the past six games without designated hitter Shohei Ohtani, who is working his way through left knee and right biceps discomfort.
Elly De La Cruz hit a mammoth home run and threw out a runner at home plate from shallow center field but could not prevent the Reds from falling to 0-2 at the start of a six-game road trip. De La Cruz has home runs in four consecutive games and is batting .455 since Aug. 22.
Reds left-hander Nick Lodolo (3-4), a Los Angeles-area native, gave up three runs on five hits over 4 2/3 innings with six strikeouts.
The Dodgers took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Smith hit a two-out home run, his seventh.
Los Angeles loaded the bases against Lodolo in the second inning and made it 2-0 when Tommy Edman was hit by a pitch.
The Reds tied it 2-2 in the third when De La Cruz crushed a 444-foot home run to left field off Skubal, his 25th of the season to match his career high.
Los Angeles nearly grabbed the lead in the bottom of the third but Hernandez’s bid for an inside-the-park home run was cut short when De La Cruz made a perfect throw to home from shallow center field.
The Dodgers regained the lead in the fifth inning when Mookie Betts walked, Smith was hit by a pitch and Hernandez hit a single to right-center to score the go-ahead run.
Tanner Scott pitched the ninth inning for Los Angeles to earn his 22nd save.