CINCINNATI (AP) — Shohei Ohtani extended his hitting streak to nine games with a two-run double in the fifth inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Cincinnati Reds 5-2 on Monday night.
Dodgers’ right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto (9-7) went seven innings for the fifth time this season and struck out nine while Teoscar Hernández had two hits and drove in a pair of runs.
Reds rookie Chase Burns (0-3) had his third straight game with 10 strikeouts, but is still seeking his first win in the majors. The right-hander gave up three runs in 5 2/3 innings.
Cincinnati tried to put together a rally in the ninth. Will Benson had an RBI single and the Reds had the bases loaded with two outs in the ninth but Jack Dreyer came on and got Matt McLain to ground out to short to end the game for his first big-league save.
Miguel Rojas led off the fifth with a double and Mookie Betts got aboard with a one-out base hit before Ohtani hit a line-drive double to center off a 99.4 mph fastball by Burns to put the Dodgers up 3-1.
Ohtani is batting .306 (11 for 36) with nine runs scored and 13 RBIs during his hitting streak.
Yamamoto didn’t allow a hit after the third inning and retired 14 of the last 15 Cincinnati batters he faced.
Key moment
Ohtani scored his MLB-leading 100th run of the season during the seventh inning when he scored on Freddie Freeman’s base hit to right field to extend the Dodgers’ lead to 5-1.
Key stat
Burns is the second Cincinnati pitcher since 1900 to have double-digit strikeouts in three straight starts. The other was Raisel Iglesias in 2015.
Up next
Dodgers’ RHP Tyler Glasnow (1-1, 2.75 ERA) matches up against Reds’ LHP Nick Lodolo (8-6, 3.08) in the middle game of the series. Lodolo had a complete-game shutout in his last start on July 23 at Washington.
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