Dodgers 5, Reds 4: Will Smith & Michael Conforto combine for late lead, bullpen delivers 5 shutout

Chad Moriyama 07/29/2025 Game Recaps Leave A Comment

Yesterday’s game got the Reds series off to a hopeful start, but things didn’t look great late in today’s game as the Reds charged ahead with four unanswered in the middle innings. However, the Dodgers bullpen pitched a shutout and the offense rode Michael Conforto (yes) and Will Smith‘s timely hitting to a 5-4 victory.

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Reds starter Nick Lodolo was dominant, getting the first six outs of the game by strikeout. However, in the 2nd, he did give up a lead-off single and then a two-out homer to Tommy Edman (12th) that seemed to be mostly the park and fortunate direction to put them up 2-0.

After that, they had the runners cornered with two outs in the 4th, and runners at first and second with one out in the 5th, but nothing came of either, which was part of Shohei Ohtani‘s nightmare of a day at the plate (four strikeouts).

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While Dodgers starter Tyler Glasnow kept them off the board early, the cracks were there. After a clean first, he got around two walks in the 2nd thanks to a double play, and another double play in the 3rd helped him escape a batter reaching on a strikeout and a single in the inning.

Things unraveled in the 4th, as a one-out walk was followed by a Jake Fraley homer that tied the game at 2-2. Then with two outs Noelvi Marte gave the Reds a 3-2 lead with a solo homer.

Things actually got worse in the 5th, as a double and a pair of walks loaded things up and that was the end of his night. The Reds were patient against him, and he didn’t have the necessary command to make it work: 4 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 5 BB, 3 K, 84 Pitches.

You’ll notice that there’s four runs charged to him, which was thanks to quality work from the pen. Jack Dreyer took over in a brutal situation, and started by getting an Elly De La Cruz groundout thanks to a great play by Edman that still scored a run to make it 4-2 Reds.

A single on a roller in front of the plate reloaded the bases, but Dreyer got a pop-out following that. Ben Casparius then entered and got a strikeout to escape that jam. That huge out was followed by a scoreless 6th as well.

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Meanwhile, after getting the first out of the 6th, Lodolo’s night was done, and their pen was greeted with a double, but that chance also was wasted. Thankfully, the Dodgers made the chance in the 7th matter, as a Conforto one-out walk was followed by a Mookie Betts single to put a pair on. With two down, Will and Freddie Freeman came through with singles to tie the game up at 4-4.

With the game now tied, it was Anthony Banda in the 7th for the pen, and he got two outs but then gave up a double. Alexis Diaz took over to a chorus of boos from fans of his former team, and he got the final out of that inning and a clean 8th as well, four huge outs for this pen.

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Back to the offense, after a quiet 8th, Conforto again led off the 9th with a walk, winning an epic 10-pitch battle.

A couple of outs followed, but it was Smith again coming up with a huge hit, ripping a double to left to put the Dodgers ahead 5-4.

That left the game in the hands of Alex Vesia in the 9th, and all he did was go 1-2-3 with a pair of strikeouts to end it.

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Alex Freeland got welcomed to The Show by Dave Roberts before the game.

Gavin Lux welcomed Freddie’s balls to Cinci during the game.

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NL WestRecordGB
Dodgers63-45–
Padres58-49*4.5
Giants54-53*8.5

The series will conclude tomorrow at MLB Network at the same time of 1:10 PM HT/4:10 PM PT/7:10 PM ET. It’ll be Shohei Ohtani looking to go four innings, perhaps with Emmet Sheehan in reserve, facing off against Nick Martinez.

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