LOS ANGELES — Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched into the seventh inning, Mookie Betts produced four hits and three RBIs and the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied for an 8-4 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday to advance to the National League Division Series.
After sweeping the best-of-three NL wild-card series, Los Angeles will visit the Philadelphia Phillies for Game 1 of the NLDS on Saturday. The Dodgers will compete in the division series for the 13th consecutive year.
Betts hit three doubles to tie a Dodgers playoff record for a single game, and teammate Teoscar Hernandez knocked in two runs.
Yamamoto (1-0) gave up two runs, both unearned, on four hits with nine strikeouts and two walks in 6 2/3 innings. He wriggled out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the sixth inning to keep Los Angeles ahead 3-2.
Rookie Sal Stewart drove in three runs for the Reds, and Gavin Lux had two hits against his former team. Zack Littell (0-1) allowed three runs on six hits over 3 1/3 innings. He fanned two without issuing a walk.
The Reds had some help from the Dodgers to take a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Spencer Steer was hit by a pitch and Austin Hays reached base when Teoscar Hernandez dropped his fly ball near the right field line. Stewart followed with a two-run single.
The Dodgers got a run back in the third inning when Ben Rortvedt doubled and scored on a one-out single from Betts.
Max Muncy singled to lead off the fourth inning for Los Angeles and scored on a one-out double from Enrique Hernandez to tie the game. Miguel Rojas followed with an RBI bloop single to right for a 3-2 lead.
Cincinnati opened the sixth with three consecutive singles to load the bases. Yamamoto escaped trouble by getting Hays to ground into a forceout at home before he struck out Stewart and Elly De La Cruz.
The Dodgers immediately rewarded the escape act with a four-run sixth for a 7-2 lead. Los Angeles got an RBI single from Shohei Ohtani, an RBI double from Betts and a redemption two-run double from Teoscar Hernandez.
Betts added an RBI double in the seventh.
Stewart had an RBI single in a two-run eighth for Cincinnati.
Looking for answers in the bullpen, the Dodgers had rookie starter Roki Sasaki pitch the ninth inning. Sasaki retired all three batters he faced, two on strikeouts. He had made his only two relief appearances over the final week of the season following his return from a shoulder injury.
–Doug Padilla, Field Level Media
