Clayton Kershaw pitched five innings of one-run ball and the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Cincinnati Reds 6-3 on Tuesday night for their third straight win.
The Dodgers’ NL West lead remained at one game over San Diego when the Padres beat Seattle 7-6.
Kershaw (9-2) allowed two hits and struck out six in his 221st career victory, tying him with former Dodger Max Scherzer and Joe Niekro for 76th on the all-time list.
Kershaw finishes his month of August with a perfect record of 5-0 with a 1.88 ERA. He’s also got a career ERA of 2.08 in 16 starts against the Reds, the lowest ERA against Cincinnati in the live-ball era.
Tanner Scott pitched the ninth to earn his 20th save.
The Dodgers batted around in the sixth when they scored four runs, extending their lead to 6-1. Will Smith homered leading off against reliever Brent Suter. Miguel Rojas added a pinch-hit two-run double and Shohei Ohtani had an RBI single.
Nick Martinez (10-10), who gave up four runs and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out three and walked two.
Cincinnati got a two-run homer by Austin Hays and Miguel Andújar’s RBI groundout.
Key stat
Dodgers INF Kiké Hernández made his first start since coming off the injured list a day earlier. He was 2 for 3 with a run scored and a strikeout. His sacrifice fly gave the Dodgers the lead for good in the fourth and he turned a game-ending double play.
Up next
Reds LHP Nick Lodolo (8-6, 3.05 ERA) starts the series finale Wednesday against Dodgers RHP Shohei Ohtani (0-1, 4.61), who is expected to pitch five innings on his bobblehead night.