The Los Angeles Dodgers advanced to the Division Series with an 8-4 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday night. Overpowering an inexperienced Reds team on the strength of their $350 million roster.
Cincinnati showed plenty of fight, capitalizing on an error with two outs in the first inning to take a 2-0 lead on the road, but LA starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto provided a steadying presence until his bats woke up. The Reds promptly forgot how to come up with a timely hit until their deficit stood at an all but insurmountable six runs, ending their first trip to the playoffs in half a decade.
Here are the biggest winners and losers from the Dodgers’ series-clinching win in Game 2 of their MLB Wild Card series.
Winner: Yoshinobu Yamamoto
Although the Reds managed to tag him for two unearned runs in the first inning as the result of a fielding error with two outs, Dodgers right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched a masterful game on Wednesday night, fanning nine batters across 6.2 innings without allowing any earned runs.
After that blip, Yamamoto retired 13 straight batters before running into trouble in the sixth inning. The Reds loaded the bases with nobody out but promptly went nowhere, Yamamoto battling back to retire the side and preserve a 3-2 lead.
Already at 95 pitches, Yamamoto easily could’ve left the game following the sixth inning, but went back out to pick up two more outs in the seventh, preserving a Dodgers’ bullpen that took their lumps in Game 1 and putting the finishing touches on an excellent outing.
Loser: Elly De La Cruz
Elly De La Cruz is one of the most exciting young stars in all of baseball, a 6-foot-5 power-hitting shortstop with otherworldly speed. A human highlight reel waiting to happen, it’s no surprise that De La Cruz is a marketing darling, but he left much to be desired during his first taste of postseason action.
De La Cruz went 0-for-6 with two walks and four strikeouts during the Reds’ brief trip to the playoffs, and although he added two RBI (a groundout and a bases-loaded walk), Cincinnati needed more than that from their star. His slump continued a trend that began in the second half of the regular season. After slugging 18 home runs in the first three months of the 2025 campaign, De La Cruz managed just four more after July 1, posting just 4.3 fWAR on the year after logging 6.5 in 2024.
A signature postseason hit or two could’ve gone a long way to silencing any questions about his performance at the plate (refer to Mookie Betts above), but now the long offseason sets in for De La Cruz, the Reds, and his fans.
Winner: Mookie Betts
Mookie Betts had the worst season at the plate in his 11-year career in the big leagues this season, posting an OPS of .732 that ranked just four percent better than league average. He didn’t show any signs of those struggles in the Dodgers’ series-clinching win, going 4-for-5 with three doubles, three RBI, and a run scored.
Name a critical moment, and Betts probably came away with a hit. He got the Dodgers rolling in the third inning with an RBI single, then doubled in another run in the sixth as Los Angeles began to blow the game open. Betts’ other two doubles came in the first inning, when he attempted to cut into Cincinnati’s 2-0 lead but couldn’t come around to score, and in the seventh when he knocked in another run.
For all their inconsistency, the Dodgers have the most talented roster in all of baseball, and when players like Betts can return to their MVP-level form, Los Angeles will pose a grave threat for the rest of the postseason field.
Loser: Reds’ Momentum
Cincinnati did an excellent job of keeping the Dodgers within reach on Wednesday night, taking a 2-0 lead during their first trip to the plate. Starting pitcher Nick Lodolo, coming in in relief, kept the game from spinning out of hand after the Dodgers chased Zack Littell from the mound, maintaining a 3-2 deficit for 1.2 innings.
The Reds then loaded the bases with nobody out in the sixth, Los Angeles starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto laboring as his pitch count climbed above 80. Sending the heart of their order to the plate in the form of cleanup hitter Austin Hays, infielder Sal Stewart, and the aforementioned De La Cruz, Cincinnati had a perfect opportunity to chase Yamamoto from the game and snatch the lead back.
Instead, they went down in order, the ball never leaving the infield as a fielder’s choice, and two strikeouts sent the Reds to the dugout empty-handed. Los Angeles didn’t make the same mistake with two on and one out in the bottom of the inning, blowing Cincinnati out of the water with a five-run rally that all but silenced their chance at a comeback.
