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.
“Just happy I can help the boys win and contribute,” Betts said. “It’s better late than never. I went through arguably one of the worst years of my career, but I think it really made me mentally tough. So now there’s just a different level of focus. It’s not really on myself, it’s more on winning the game.”
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 big takeaway is that when they give us opportunities like that, cash them in,” Steer said. “They were walking guys (in both games) and we were able to load the bases a couple of different times tonight. It’s important to capitalize when you get those opportunities.”
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.
“We had a lot of struggles, really all year, but we all view it as a test to see how we would respond,” Betts said of the Dodgers. “Now we’re starting to use those tests to respond and be ready now. Anything that comes our way can’t be worse than what we’ve already gone through.”
Stewart had an RBI single in a two-run eighth for Cincinnati.
“The season doesn’t just wind down, it just comes to a crashing halt, and that’s kind of hard sometimes to make your peace with,” Reds manager Terry Francona said. “I thought our group from Day 1 was a special group. We did not accomplish what we set out to do. That takes away nothing from what me and the coaches feel about those guys.”
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
