After some time where the offense was asleep, the Los Angeles Dodgers are finding a rhythm at the plate. The Dodgers managed to score some runs when it counted on Tuesday, Aug. 26, in a 6-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds at Dodger Stadium.
Thankfully, the Dodgers had their ace, Clayton Kershaw, on the mound. Kershaw worked five innings, allowing one run on two hits in the first inning. But he settled down after that and recorded 14 straight outs en route to the win.
After the game, Kershaw tipped his cap to catcher Will Smith for his contribution to the victory.
"Will [Smith] kind of guided me through that and picked the right spots to throw different pitches, mix in as many fastballs as we needed to," Kershaw said, according to MLB.com. "It worked out through five. I don't know how much longer it would've worked out, but it worked out through five."
The Dodgers have some work to do when it comes to extending their National League West Division lead. Before Wednesday night's series finale against the Reds, the second-place San Diego Padres lost 4-3 to the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park. That puts Los Angeles up 1.5 games in the NL West ahead of their game against Cincinnati.
It's been a bit of a struggle at times for the Dodgers to keep a decent lead. They have been out of first place twice in the past two weeks. Now, though, there is an opportunity to put some space between them and the Padres.
"I think this is good for everybody," Dodgers first baseman Kiké Hernández said Monday. "We're gonna be playing playoff atmosphere games from here on out. Typically in the years that I've been here, the years where we don't win the division very early on are the years that we end up playing the best towards October."
Wednesday night's starter for the Dodgers should bring the fans out in droves. Shohei Ohtani takes the mound for the Dodgers against the Reds' Nick Lodolo. Dodgers fans probably hope Ohtani can produce on the mound as well as at the plate.