The Sports Xchange
Jun 17, 2017
CINCINNATI -- Yasiel Puig homered twice, Cody Bellinger hit a two-run blast and Joc Pederson added a solo shot, lifting the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 10-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on a steamy Saturday afternoon at Great American Ball Park.
Bellinger's homer was his National-League leading 19th in 49 games.
Puig homered in consecutive at-bats. He went deep in the sixth off Austin Brice then added his 12th in the eighth off Jake Buchanan.
The Dodgers (43-26) have won seven straight games against the Reds dating to last season and are 16-3 versus them since 2015.
Joey Votto went 3-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to 11 games for Cincinnati (29-38), which has lost a season-high eight in a row. The Reds haven't lost more than eight straight since an 11-game skid in May 2016.
Los Angeles starter Hyun-Jin Ryu (3-6) needed 105 pitches to get through five innings, but allowed only two runs on eight hits with a pair of walks and seven strikeouts.
Consecutive doubles by Corey Seager and Bellinger produced a run for the Dodgers in the first inning.
Billy Hamilton showcased his speed in the bottom half of the first when he singled and raced to third on Zack Cozart's double. When Chris Taylor's throw into second got away for an error, Hamilton slid home to tie the score.
For the second straight day, the temperature at the start of the game was 90 degrees.
Things got more heated in the second inning when Reds manager Bryan Price was ejected for arguing a called third strike by home plate umpire Stu Scheurwater on Hamilton for the third out. Hamilton tossed his bat and helmet before Price got ejected for offering choice words from the dugout. It was Price's first ejection of the season.
Taylor atoned for his throwing error with a two-run double in the third.
Bellinger's two-run shot in the third was immediately followed by Pederson's solo shot to put Los Angeles ahead 6-1. It was Pederson's fourth homer and second in as many days.
Reds starter Asher Wojciechowski (1-1) allowed six runs, five earned, in 2 1/3 innings.
Cincinnati had three triples among its six extra-base hits, but went 1-for-17 with runners in scoring position.
NOTES: The Cincinnati Reds unveiled a statue of baseball's all-time hits king Pete Rose outside Great American Ball Park prior to Saturday's game. Rose was joined by several teammates from the Big Red Machine clubs of the 1970s which won World Series titles in 1975 and 1976. ... Reds SS Zack Cozart snapped an 0-for-19 skid with a first-inning double. ... The Dodgers have clinched the season series against the Reds for the fourth straight year. ... Reds manager Bryan Price was ejected for the 10th time in his career.