Finnegan, Reds overpower Dodgers
CINCINNATI -- Adam Duvall, Jose Peraza and Scott Schebler homered, and Brandon Finnegan held the Dodgers hitless for six innings to help lift the Cincinnati Reds to an 11-1 victory over Los Angeles on Saturday night at Great American Ball Park.
The Dodgers remained one half-game behind the first-place San Francisco Giants in the National League West standings.
Peraza went 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs, helping the Reds win their fifth straight game and improve to 21-12 since the All-Star break.
In his last start against the Dodgers, Finnegan allowed one run on five hits but lost a 1-0 duel with Clayton Kershaw on May 21. He was equally dominant Saturday.
Finnegan (8-9) did not allow a hit until Adrian Gonzalez singled leading off the seventh. That was the only hit allowed by Finnegan, who walked two and struck out eight over seven innings.
Saturday's game was delayed 1 hour, 19 minutes by heavy rain just prior to the start of the bottom of the seventh.
When play resumed, Cincinnati's bats remained hot.
Schebler's three-run homer in the eighth off J.P. Howell was his fourth of the season and made it 11-0. Schebler was a former Dodgers prospect and roommate of Corey Seager in the minor leagues.
Seager's pinch-single in the ninth extended his hitting streak to 11 games, amd was one of only three hits collected by Los Angeles.
For the second straight start, Dodgers starter Brett Anderson left a game because of injury -- a blister on his left pitching index finger.
On Saturday, Anderson left in the fourth inning with a hand injury after uncorking a wild pitch. He allowed six earned runs on Saturday on nine hits in three-plus innings.
Anderson left his last start with a wrist injury after allowing five runs on five hits in one inning in his 2016 debut after undergoing arthroscopic surgery in March to repair a bulging disk in his lower back.
In the first inning Saturday, Anderson gave up four straight hits including a three-run homer by Duvall put Cincinnati ahead 4-0 before an out was recorded.
Duvall's homer, his 28th, came on the second pitch he saw after missing four games since fouling a pitch off his left foot Monday.
Finnegan doubled and scored on Peraza's single in the second to give the Reds a 5-0 lead.
Peraza made it a career-high three RBIs on the night when he belted a 1-0 pitch from Grant Dayton for his second home run of the season, a two-run shot in the fourth to make it 7-0.
NOTES: Dodgers LHP Clayton Kershaw threw between 20-25 pitches in a bullpen session Saturday in Great American Ball Park. Manager Dave Roberts called Kershaw's session "successful" and expects him to throw again Tuesday in Los Angeles, this time around 40-45 pitches. ... The Reds recalled INF/OF Jose Peraza from Triple-A Louisville on Saturday and optioned RHP Keyvius Sampson to Triple-A. ... Reds SS Zack Cozart will be out for a couple more days because of right knee and left achilles discomfort. ... Roberts announced that RHP Kenta Maeda will start against the Giants on Tuesday.