Seven innings, three hits
Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed three hits across seven innings overnight in Los Angeles and struck out 10. The Dodgers won 14-1, completed the sweep of Cincinnati and stretched their winning run to seven games, their longest of 2026.
The number that matters most for Yamamoto is 13. That is his win total after moving to 13-8, a career high, and it arrived on a night when he retired 17 of the first 20 batters he faced. The 10 strikeouts equalled his season best.
One Cincinnati hitter did any damage at all. Elly De La Cruz turned on Yamamoto’s first pitch of the fourth inning and sent it 403 feet to centre field, his fifth home run in five consecutive games and a career-best run. He had done the same thing to Tarik Skubal a night earlier, also on the first pitch. Sal Stewart singled twice off Yamamoto, JJ Bleday drew a walk, and that was the sum of the Reds’ evening.
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Six runs in the fourth
Mookie Betts had already pushed Los Angeles 3-0 clear with a two-run shot off Rhett Lowder. The fourth inning ended the argument. Alex Freeland doubled in a run, Kike Hernandez followed with a two-run double and came home on a Luis Mey wild pitch, then Teoscar Hernandez’s two-run single deflected off De La Cruz’s glove to make it 9-1.
Six runs in one inning was the Dodgers’ biggest since June 27, when they put up nine against San Diego, also behind Yamamoto. All nine starters reached base. Max Muncy and Kike Hernandez both added two-run homers, and Kyle Tucker went deep in the eighth off Reds position player Jose Trevino, which says plenty about where the game had gone by then.
Betts finished 3-for-5 with two RBIs, three runs scored and a walk, his fifth multi-hit game in the first eight days of September, lifting his average to .249. The 13 runs of support were the most Yamamoto has been given since July 19.
Magic number down to six
Los Angeles have now won 11 straight at home against Cincinnati. The sweep cut their magic number to six for a 13th National League West title in 14 years, and they are closing it out without Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman, both sidelined by injury.
Cincinnati take Thursday off before opening at Milwaukee on Friday with Andrew Abbott, who faces Kyle Harrison. The Dodgers travel to Miami with their starter still unannounced.
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