vs Cincy

Sep 17-19: On the road again. Reds needing wins for WC berth, while Dodgers need to gain a game on the Giants.

Game 1- Both pitchers on their game. Mookie laces a leadoff double that 1-hops the RF wall, and after 2 K’s, Seager walks. JT lashes a grounder to SS for the last out. Dodgers can’t hit Castillo’s changes, and go out in order in the 2nd and 3rd with 6 K’s total. 4th a little better: Seager gets a hit but JT another hard grounder to SS, with Seager moving up. Will Smith K’s for 2nd time. Belli leads off the 5th getting called out on ball 4 (bad call). With 2 outs, Walker lives up to his name. Mookie sharp groundout to end it. 6th, Muncy out but #6 Trea singles up the middle, followed by a beat the shift infield hit by Seager. JT and Will go 2 flies up. Now 3-0. Dodgers really need to score this 7th inning, but 7-8-9 coming up. Belli gives up the 10th K after going 3-0. Beaty a hit (yay) to knock out Castillo (finally) — Castillo ended up with 10K’s. CT3 to PH gets long fly caught, ditto for Betts. Dodgers have 2-3-4 up in the 8th, but go 1-2-3 (K, 4-3, long fly to deep CF). Last chance 9th with 5-6-7. 1 on, 1 out with Belli grounding out on a rare hit-and-run . Down to last out, with Beaty hit clutch single to score Smith and at least defeat the shutout. Last dance with Pujols PH who lines out to CF. Dodgers lose 3-1.

Pitching: Buehler looking sharp, matching Castillo with 4 shutout innings. Walker establishing command with his fastball at 97, and mixing cutters and curves. Has given up 1H, 1BB through 4. Scoreless into the bottom of 5, Buehler surrenders game’s 1st run on a leadoff double to ex-Dodger Kyle Farmer and an RBI single. 6th, 1-out single by Catellanos on a center cut fastball. Hot Votto slashes a single to RF on another center cut fastball. 2 on, 1 out for “Moose” to popup foul for 2nd out. Walker only goes 6 (95P). Farmer gets a hanger and strokes his 2nd double to LF to score 2: 3-0. Knebel for the 7th with K-K, but then dishes a center cut fastball to India for a loud lineout to leaping Seager. Graterol out of witness protection for the 8th gives up a hit, a flyout (snag by Belli), sharp grounder by Votto diving stop by Trea to throw him out. Pop foul ends it. Still 3-0 to the 9th.

Game 2- Another scoreless game until the 5th. JT hits a double for 2nd-3rd, and G Lux hits a huge triple to score 2. Lux scores on a safety squeeze by Betts for 3-0. Dodgers tack on 1 in the 6th, with Trea scoring the 4th run. Dodgers get some traffic going with 2 outs in the 9th, as Barnes walks, Pujols PH infield single, Mookie RBI hit for 5-0.

Pitching: To the Max, as Scherzer strong again. A little trouble with command of his slider and change, Barnes calls for curves that get him back on track. Max hurls 7 shutout innings on only 2 hits. Joe Kelly cleans up the 8th. Vesia in the 9th gives up 2 long flies and then walks Votto, a long fly off the wall for a single by Moose for 1st-3rd. Farmer hits a slow roller to Seager for the last out — but wait, Corey lobs it into the dirt and Muncy can’t scoop it — E6 and unearned run for Reds. Roberts panics and brings in Jansen to close it. Dodgers hold on to win 5-1, as a reversal of its game.

Game 3- Rubber game. Dodgers wake up on a Sunday morning and feast at the altar of the long ball. In a series with no home runs by either team, the Dodgers bang 3: Smith, Lux, Seager (so much for lefties can’t hit LHP). After just 3 innings, twice through the lineup, the Dodgers have more runs (6) and hits (8) than either of the weekend games. They have 4 batters with 2 hits each (2 of the HR hitters and Betts, CT3). G Lux has 3 RBI. But as happens half the time, Dodgers score early and rest. Unexpectedly, the Dodgers bust out for 2 runs in the 9th, to go up 8-4.

Pitching: Kershaw back for his 2nd start after IL. Kersh induces a DP followed by a backfoot slider K in the 2nd, and also finishes the 3rd on a swinging K for 0R, 2H through 3. Kersh gives up a double in the 4th for a run on a WP and an out, but finishes the inning with his 6th K on a high fastball (!). Now 6-1. Gonsolin takes over the double starter game in the 6th and gives up a run for 6-2. Gonso was left in too long, and gives up another 2 runs for 6-4. Roberts then sends in the marines (yay) with Treinen and Jansen to shut it down — save a solo jack by PH Votto (good for him!). Dodgers hold on for an 8-5 and series win.