LOS ANGELES, CA — Wednesday’s pregame temperature at Dodger Stadium was 115 degrees on the field and with the sunsetting, it dropped down to 92 degrees after seven innings of play.
Yet none of the smothering heat mattered or bothered the Dodgers (89-57) as Los Angeles pounded the Reds (69-77) without Freddie Freeman (right knee soreness) and Shohei Ohtani (left knee soreness & right arm discomfort, 15-day IL) on an onslaught of 14 runs on 14 hits—including eight extra-base hits—four doubles and four home runs.
Lost in Wednesday’s display of offensive power from Dodger Blue was the brilliant pitching once again by right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto (13-8, 2.62 ERA), who froze Cincinnati up on nasty splitters, forcing them to play the guessing game all night long. The only legitimate hit off of the two-time All-Star and 2025 World Series MVP was a 403-foot solo home run by Elly De La Cruz, who hit his 26th home run of the season and fifth home run in five days.
Talk about a superstar.
De La Cruz, 24, of Sabana Grande de Boya, Dominican Republic, has had quite the week in Hollywood.
With the bat, his arm and glove.
Pretty much anything the 2023 National League LatinoMVP Rookie of the Year can get his hands on.
Nonetheless, Yamamoto, finishing with 90 pitches, of which 66 were strikes, would leave with a line of seven innings pitched, three hits, one run, one walk, and 10 strikeouts—his third outing of 2026 with 10 or more Ks.
“In October, I’m pretty sure there will be more intense games ahead of us,” Yamamoto said through interpreter Yoshihiro Sonoda. “I’d like to take the rest of our season to maintain my condition, and then however many starts I have left, I just want to take it one at a time to help myself get ready for October.”
Mookie Betts went 3 for 5 with two RBI, coming on a 382-foot home run, his 19th of the year while Max Muncy also hit a two-run home run, his 27th of the season. Kyle Tucker got in on the action, hitting a solo home run off of a 36-MPH meatball by position player pitcher Jose Trevino.
Fan favorite Kiké Hernández, San Juan, Puerto Rico, did too, topping the night off with a double and 388-foot two-run home run that gave him four RBI in the win.
Teoscar Hernández, Cotui, Dominican Republic, producing as well, like all of LA’s lineup Wednesday, extended his hitting streak to 10 games and has had seven games in a row with an RBI.
Manager Dave Roberts, describing Wednesday’s offensive performance as “great,” stated, “Obviously it’s one of those things where we know we’re a much better ballclub with Sho (Ohtani) in the lineup but you know there is something to he’s not in the lineup so guys got to pick up the slack and focus a little bit more and I’ve seen that from top to bottom.”
Staying back in Los Angeles, where he’ll go through regular conditioning but likely be shut down from swinging for a few days, Shohei Ohtani will not travel to Miami and Cincinnati with the Dodgers on the team’s upcoming road trip – Image Credit: Bill Menzel/Latino Sports
In sweeping the Reds, the Dodgers, four games ahead of Atlanta (85-51) for the second seed in the National League, have now won seven games in a row and are beginning to close in on the two spot, which would secure them with a bye and keep them out of the NL Wild Card series.
Next up for Los Angeles is a trip to Miami (72-75) for three games this weekend followed by a four-game series with the Reds in Cincinnati.
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