Field Level Media
May 17, 2019
Rich Hill struck out 10 over six scoreless innings while Joc Pederson and Max Muncy hit back-to-back home runs as the Los Angeles Dodgers started a three-city road trip Friday night with a 6-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.
Hill (1-1) was shaky in his first three starts to the season after recovering from a knee sprain, but put it together against the Reds with his first double-digit strikeout performance since June 29 of last season against the Colorado Rockies.
Dodgers pitchers recorded their fifth shutout in the past nine games, including two consecutive, while striking out 13 batters. Los Angeles became the first major league team to win 30 games, joined later in the evening by the Houston Astros, who defeated the Boston Red Sox.
Reds starter Anthony DeSclafani (2-2) gave up four runs on six hits over four innings while losing a game for the first time since April 7. Former Dodger Yasiel Puig struck out three times in three at-bats.
Corey Seager also hit a home run for the Dodgers, his fourth, giving Los Angeles a 2-0 lead in the second inning. It was just the second home run for Seager in a stretch of 116 plate appearances.
Pederson hit a home run to lead off the third inning, his 14th of the season. Of his five hits in May, four have been home runs. Muncy followed with a home run to center, his ninth, as the Dodgers opened an early 4-0 lead.
As the Dodgers were hitting the ball out of the park, Hill was cruising, retiring the first 10 batters he faced before a Joey Votto single in the fourth inning.
Eugenio Suarez followed Votto with his own single, but those ended up being the only Reds hits off Hill, who had eight strikeouts after four innings.
The Dodgers were not done hitting home runs as Cody Bellinger went over the wall in center in the eighth inning for his 16th of the season.
The Dodgers lost middle-of-the-order threat Justin Turner after he fouled a ball off his left leg in the third inning. Turner was diagnosed with a shin contusion and is listed as day-to-day.
The Dodgers won for the eighth time in their last 10 games, while the Reds fell to 2-2 during their six-game homestand against the Chicago Cubs and Dodgers.
--Field Level Media