Skubal, Dodgers Beat Reds to Extend Streak

Tarik Skubal just shoved the Dodgers to a sixth straight win. In his seventh start since the deadline trade from Detroit, Skubal threw 7 1/3 innings, allowed two runs on four hits with two walks and five strikeouts, and improved to 9-7 as Los Angeles beat the Cincinnati Reds 3-2 on Tuesday, per Reuters Field Level Media.

The Dodgers sit at 88-57, still 1 1/2 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers (90-56) for the best record in baseball. That is the September race this win feeds.

Smith's first homer since May, Teoscar's go-ahead knock

Will Smith snapped a long power drought with a two-out solo shot in the first, his seventh homer of the year and first since May. Tommy Edman was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the second to make it 2-0. After Elly De La Cruz's 444-foot blast tied it in the third, Teoscar Hernandez punched a go-ahead single to right-center in the fifth after Mookie Betts walked and Smith took another HBP. Tanner Scott closed the ninth for his 22nd save.

De La Cruz was a one-man highlight reel for Cincinnati. The 444-footer matched his career high at 25 homers, and he threw out Hernandez at the plate from shallow center on a near inside-the-park bid in the third. It still was not enough. The Reds fell to 69-76 and 0-2 on a six-game road trip. Nick Lodolo (3-4), a Los Angeles-area native, lasted 4 2/3 and allowed three runs on five hits with six strikeouts and three walks.

Ohtani still out, Skubal carrying the ball

Shohei Ohtani sat for the fifth time in six games while working through left knee and right biceps discomfort. That puts even more weight on Skubal's post-deadline innings and a middle of the order that still found three runs without the two-way star in the box. De La Cruz is batting .455 since Aug. 22 with homers in four straight games, and Skubal still kept the rest of that lineup quiet enough to win.

For Dodgers fans, Tuesday was the deadline arm doing deadline-arm things. Skubal kept the Reds in check after the early De La Cruz thunder, the lineup scratched just enough, and Scott slammed the door. Six in a row. Brewers still ahead by a game and a half. September baseball in Chavez Ravine with Skubal on the mound is exactly the look Los Angeles wanted when it traded for him.

De La Cruz is batting .455 since Aug. 22 with homers in four straight games, per the same Reuters wrap. He can take over a night even in a loss. Skubal's job was to keep those damage innings to a minimum and hand a lead to a bullpen that still trusts Scott in the ninth. With Ohtani limited, every start from the deadline import gets weighed against the Brewers' pace up north. A 3-2 grind with Smith's first homer since May and Hernandez's timely single is exactly the September baseball Los Angeles needs while the best-record race stays within shouting distance.