Emmet Sheehan struck out 10 in his return from the minor leagues and the Los Angeles Dodgers turned Shohei Ohtani’s return to the lineup into a 6-3 victory over the visiting Cincinnati Reds on Monday. Sheehan (5-8), who lost his roster spot when left-hander Tarik Skubal joined the rotation last month, threw 5⅔ innings of one-run ball. He gave up three hits and one walk while tying his career high for strikeouts.
Teoscar Hernandez hit a three-run homer as Los Angeles (87-57) extended its winning streak to five games. Ohtani went 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts after sitting out the previous four games because of left knee, right biceps and neck discomfort. He is 2-for-26 (.077) with no RBIs in his past seven games.
Elly De La Cruz and Eugenio Suarez homered while Chase Burns threw three scoreless innings for the Reds (69-75). Cincinnati lost the series opener to the two-time defending World Series champions after winning three consecutive series against playoff contenders. Burns allowed no hits, walked one and had five strikeouts in an abbreviated outing.
The Reds are limiting the 23-year-old All-Star’s usage down the stretch. De La Cruz gave Cincinnati a 1-0 lead on Sheehan’s fourth pitch when he sent a fastball over the wall in center field with one out in the first inning. It was his 24th homer of the season.
The Dodgers had two runners aboard with two outs in the fifth when Miguel Rojas hit a high chopper to third that Ke’Bryan Hayes fielded before making a wild throw. Hernandez and Alex Call scored on the play. Los Angeles’ Freddie Freeman and Max Muncy walked in the sixth inning against Brandon Williamson (3-4), and Hernandez followed his 13th long ball for a 5-1 lead.
Hernandez, who finished 2-for-3, is now 13-for-29 (.448) with 11 RBIs over his past eight games. Suarez inched Cincinnati closer with a home run to center in the seventh, his 22nd. The Reds had runners on second and third with one out in the eighth inning against left-hander Jack Dreyer but scored just once, on a groundout by pinch hitter Dane Myers to pull within 5-3.
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