Dodgers 2, Reds 1
LOS ANGELES -- Center fielder Joc Pederson and right-hander Zack Greinke hit successive solo home runs to give the Los Angeles Dodgers a 2-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday in front of 47,388 at Dodger Stadium.
The Dodgers used their third consecutive win to maintain their 2 1/2-game lead over the second-place San Francisco Giants in the National League West while giving the Reds their ninth loss in 12 games.
Greinke (13-2) amassed eight strikeouts and yielded just one walk in his seven innings, while allowing one run on six hits in extending his personal winning streak to seven games. Right-hander Kenley Jansen struck out two of the four batters he faced in a perfect 1 1/3 innings of relief for his 24th save.
Pederson and Greinke hit their homers in the bottom of the fifth inning after Cincinnati broke a scoreless tie in the top of the fifth.
Pederson propelled a 94 mph fastball from right-hander Anthony DeSclafani halfway up the center-field bleachers for his 23rd homer of the season. Greinke followed by hitting DeSclafani's next pitch, another 94 mph fastball, two rows into the center-field bleachers for his second homer of the season and the sixth of his career.
In the top of the fifth, center fielder Billy Hamilton's sacrifice fly brought left fielder Marlon Byrd home to give the Reds a 1-0 lead. Byrd began the inning with a single, then moved to third base when Dodgers right fielder Yasiel Puig tried to make a diving catch on catcher Tucker Barnhart's sinking line drive. But the ball bounced just to Puig's left and past him, and Barnhart received credit for a double.
Hamilton's fly ball also sent Barnhart to third, but second baseman Brandon Phillips ended the inning by sending a long fly to Pederson.
The Reds placed the potential tying run in scoring position in the seventh. Byrd lined a double off the left-field wall with one out, then Barnhart walked. But Greinke defused the threat by getting pinch-hitter Skip Schumaker to line out to left fielder Andre Ethier and Hamilton to ground out to third baseman Justin Turner.
DeSclafani (7-8) registered six strikeouts in his six innings but allowed two runs, six hits and two walks.
Cincinnati had a chance to take an early lead after first baseman Joey Votto doubled with two outs in the top of the first inning. Votto hit a sharp ground ball off the glove of diving second baseman Enrique Hernandez and hustled to second base as the ball bounded away. But third baseman Todd Frazier struck out to end the inning.
The Dodgers followed suit in the third, when catcher Yasmani Grandal walked and moved to second on Greinke's sacrifice with two outs. Shortstop Jimmy Rollins then hit a long fly that Byrd caught in front of the fence down the left-field line.
Los Angeles had a better opportunity in the fourth. Hernandez hit a lead-off single to left field, moved to second when first baseman Adrian Gonzalez walked and took third when Turner flied to right. But DeSclafani struck out Ethier and Puig.
NOTES: Cincinnati needs two more starts by rookie pitchers to tie the longest such streak since 1997, when the St. Louis Cardinals used rookies to start 19 successive games, according to Elias Sports Bureau. ... Reds RF Jay Bruce needs three home runs to tie Eric Davis for eighth place on the Reds' all-time list. Bruce has 200 homers. ... Reds 1B Joey Votto needs two home runs to match Vada Pinson, who holds 11th place with 186. ... The Dodgers are on pace to establish their best home record since moving to Los Angeles in 1958. The Dodgers are 42-20 at Dodger Stadium for a .677 percentage. In 1980, the Dodgers went 55-27 at home for a .671 percentage. The team record came in 1953 in Brooklyn, when the Dodgers compiled a 60-17 record and a .779 percentage at Ebbets Field during a 154-game schedule.