The Los Angeles Dodgers hit a season-high five home runs in support of six strong innings from Clayton Kershaw to complete a three-game road sweep with a 10-5 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday afternoon.
Freddie Freeman, Cody Bellinger, Max Muncy, Will Smith and newcomer Trayce Thompson all went deep Thursday.
Freeman finished the three-game set with two homers and 10 RBIs to help the Dodgers complete a seven-game season sweep of the Reds. They outscored Cincinnati 26-11 in the series and 52-18 on the season.
In his third start back from hip joint inflammation that landed him on the injured list, Kershaw (5-1) held the Reds to one run on seven hits over six innings, striking out seven with one walk.
Bellinger and Freeman each drove in three for the Dodgers, who homered three times off Reds rookie starter Hunter Greene (3-8). The Dodgers have defeated the Reds nine straight times and are 15-4 against Cincinnati since the 2018 season.
Tommy Pham drilled a three-run homer and recorded a pair of outfield assists for the Reds, who dropped their seventh straight and finished 0-6 on their homestand. Overall, the Reds have lost their last eight at home dating to June 8.
For Greene, it was a flashback to May 5 when he allowed a season-high five homers at Milwaukee. Greene was tagged for six runs on nine hits in five innings, striking out just three while walking two.
Pham had two outfield assists in the first three innings, giving him five for the season and matching Aristides Aquino for the team lead. With three assists on the day, the Reds have 17 outfield assists, passing the Texas Rangers for the MLB lead.
Freeman blasted his eighth homer of the year and second in as many games, a 427-foot two-run homer to right-center with Muncy aboard in the third inning to increase the lead to 3-0 before delivering an RBI single in the eighth.
The Reds appeared to have Kershaw on the ropes in the fourth when the first two reached and Donovan Solano singled home Pham with nobody out to cut the lead to 5-1. But Kershaw followed with two strikeouts and a fly out to end Cincinnati’s rally.
In the fifth, Muncy belted a first-pitch fastball from Greene to right field for his fifth homer and a 6-1 Dodgers lead. Bellinger hit his ninth home run, Smith had his 10th and Thompson, who joined the Dodgers on Tuesday, hit his first.
–Field Level Media