Reds 4, Dodgers 1: Yamamoto falters in 3rd, offense quiet, LA drops 5th in a row

A fifth loss in a row is how the Dodgers ended the weekend, dropping this one to the Reds 4-1 in Cincinnati on a rainy Sunday afternoon.

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Yoshinobu Yamamoto was rolling the first time through the lineup, retiring the Reds on 33 pitches in the first two innings. Then, he ran into big spot of bother in the third inning. His command wavered a bit and he eventually loaded the bases with two outs for Jonathan India, who hit a hard ground ball in a spot Gavin Lux would normally be positioned. That accounted for Cincinnati’s first two runs. Nick Martini followed with a 2-run bloop single to stretch the Reds’ lead to 4-0. It took him 37 pitches to get through the frame.

Not only did that derail him from getting the win, but also limited his day to five innings on 100 pitches. He struck out eight, allowed six hits, four runs and issued two walks.

Then, the rain came. After a 69-minute rain delay, Anthony Banda picked up for Yamamoto. He threw two scoreless innings of relief and has been pretty impressive since coming over from Cleveland (small sample size definitely applies).

Yohan Ramirez struggled again, but Dave Roberts provided a nice moment for him and he escaped a bases-loaded jam to close the book on the Reds.

The Dodgers playing the way they currently are isn't fun

But you have to appreciate this

This right here is why Dave Roberts is one of the top managers in the game pic.twitter.com/qeKPscscVQ

— Blake Harris (@BlakeHHarris) May 26, 2024

While Yamamoto allowed four runs, the offense was non-existent once again. Mookie Betts (single) and Teoscar Hernandez (double) accounted for the only Dodger hits before the rain. Nick Martinez — former Padre — shut the Dodgers down for 4 1/3 innings after he relieved the Reds’ opener Brent Suter.

Hernandez laced another double in the seventh inning, but Andy Pages and Lux couldn’t bring him home to at least get the Dodgers on the board. They were 0-for-their-last-22 with runners in scoring position before Freddie Freeman drove in Shohei Ohtani (reached on error) with a double. Arbitrary endpoints and such, but that’s not great!

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The Dodgers fall to 33-22, while the Reds improve to 23-30. Next up for LA is a Memorial Day tilt in Queens against the Mets. Gavin Stone (4-2, 3.60 ERA) looks to bounce back from his last outing. He’ll be opposed by Trevor Megill (0-2, 3.00). First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. Pacific time.