Skubal Goes Deep, Teoscar Stays Hot as Dodgers Edge Reds 3-2
The Dodgers didn’t need another dramatic late comeback Tuesday night.
This time, Tarik Skubal made sure a narrow lead was enough.
Skubal worked 7⅓ innings, Teoscar Hernández collected three hits and drove in the go-ahead run, and the Dodgers held off the Cincinnati Reds 3-2 at Dodger Stadium for their sixth consecutive victory.
Los Angeles improved to 88-57 and has now matched its longest winning streak of the season.
After spending much of August trying to regain consistency, the Dodgers suddenly look like a team building momentum at exactly the right time.
Will Smith Gives Dodgers an Early Lead
With Shohei Ohtani out of the lineup for the fifth time in six games, the Dodgers needed production elsewhere near the top of the order.
Smith delivered immediately.
Facing Reds left-hander Nick Lodolo with two outs in the first inning, Smith battled through a nine-pitch plate appearance before launching a solo home run to left field.
It was Smith’s seventh homer of the season and his first since returning from the injured list on Sept. 1.
The Dodgers added another run in the second without needing a hit to drive it home.
Teoscar Hernández walked, Max Muncy singled and Kiké Hernández walked to load the bases. Lodolo then hit Tommy Edman with a pitch, forcing home Teoscar and giving Los Angeles a 2-0 advantage.
The lead didn’t last long.
Elly De La Cruz Ties It With One Swing
Skubal retired Cincinnati in order in the first and worked around a walk in the second.
The Reds finally got to him with two outs in the third.
Dane Myers singled before Elly De La Cruz launched his 25th home run of the season, a two-run shot to left-center that tied the game 2-2.
Those would be the only runs Cincinnati scored against Skubal.
The Dodgers left-hander settled down and controlled the rest of the night.
Skubal Delivers His Longest Dodgers Start
Skubal did not pile up the strikeouts at the rate Dodgers fans have sometimes seen from him, but he was efficient.
Very efficient.
After needing 84 pitches to finish six innings, Skubal required just eight more to retire the Reds in order in the seventh.
He returned for the eighth, retired Héctor Rodríguez on a groundout and finally handed the game to the bullpen after 94 pitches.
His final line:
7⅓ IP | 4 H | 2 ER | 2 BB | 5 K
It was Skubal’s longest outing since joining the Dodgers and the first time he had pitched into the eighth inning on four days’ rest since May 2025.
He improved to 9-7 with the victory.
For a Dodgers rotation already loaded with October options, getting Skubal this deep into a game is another encouraging sign.
Teoscar Nearly Goes Inside the Park
Hernández’s night could have been even more memorable.
With two outs in the third, he ripped a ball into the outfield that got past center fielder Dane Myers and rolled toward the wall.
Hernández never stopped running.
He reached third easily and then tried to turn the play into an inside-the-park home run.
The Reds recovered just in time.
Elly De La Cruz fired a strong relay home, and catcher Jose Trevino tagged Hernández out at the plate.
Hernández had to settle for a triple.
Two innings later, he got another chance to make a difference.
This time, he did.
Teoscar Delivers the Go-Ahead Hit
Mookie Betts walked with one out in the fifth, and Smith was hit by a pitch.
After Freddie Freeman struck out, Hernández came to the plate with two outs and runners at first and second.
He lined a single into center field.
Betts scored.
Dodgers 3, Reds 2.
That became the winning run.
Hernández added another single in the eighth and finished 3-for-3 with a walk, triple and RBI, reaching base in all four of his plate appearances.
His resurgence is becoming one of the biggest stories of the Dodgers’ September.
Hernández has now hit safely in nine consecutive games, going 16-for-32 (.500) during the streak.
Not long ago, there were legitimate questions about whether Dave Roberts might reduce his playing time against certain right-handed pitchers.
Hernández has answered those questions about as emphatically as possible.
Dodgers Defense Helps Skubal
The Dodgers also turned multiple double plays behind Skubal.
Cincinnati put a runner aboard to open the fourth, but JJ Bleday grounded into a double play to end the inning.
Another potential threat disappeared in the sixth when Eugenio Suárez grounded into a Betts-to-Alex Freeland-to-Kiké Hernández double play.
Those sequences helped Skubal keep his pitch count under control and remain in the game into the eighth.
Henriquez Escapes a Dangerous Eighth
Edgardo Henriquez replaced Skubal with one out in the eighth.
He immediately faced the dangerous top of Cincinnati’s order.
After retiring Myers, Henriquez allowed a double to De La Cruz, putting the tying run in scoring position.
That brought Sal Stewart to the plate.
The at-bat ended with an ABS challenge, and the call was overturned to a strikeout.
Henriquez escaped the inning with the 3-2 lead intact.
That was the biggest bullpen moment of the night.
Tanner Scott Closes It Out
Scott entered for the ninth and walked Tyler Stephenson to begin the inning.
Carlos Jorge came in as a pinch-runner and eventually stole second, putting the tying run in scoring position.
Scott didn’t flinch.
He struck out Suárez.
He struck out Bleday.
Then Trevino grounded out to Betts to end the game.
Scott earned his 22nd save of the season.
Ohtani Gets Another Night Off
Ohtani did not appear in Tuesday’s game.
The Dodgers held him out as a precaution one day after he returned from a four-game absence and went 0-for-3 with a walk against Cincinnati.
Roberts said before the game that Ohtani came out of Monday feeling fine, but the medical staff preferred to build him back up gradually rather than immediately have him play every day.
Roberts said Ohtani is expected back in the lineup Wednesday.
There has been no new injury announced.
For now, the Dodgers are simply continuing to prioritize Ohtani’s health while managing his knee and biceps issues.
Dodgers Have Won Six Straight
The Dodgers looked like they were moving in the wrong direction less than a week ago.
They had lost six of eight and dropped the first two games of their homestand against St. Louis.
Then Teoscar delivered a walk-off double.
Los Angeles hasn’t lost since.
The Dodgers won Thursday’s finale against the Cardinals, swept Washington and have now taken the first two games from Cincinnati.
Their six-game winning streak matches their longest of 2026.
And unlike some stretches earlier in the season, there hasn’t been one formula behind the wins.
They have won with late comebacks.
They have won with home runs.
They have won with bullpen performances.
Tuesday, they won because their starter carried them deep into the game and their hottest hitter delivered the decisive hit.
That sounds a lot more like the kind of baseball the Dodgers want to be playing in September.
They will have an opportunity to finish the homestand with another sweep Wednesday, with Yoshinobu Yamamoto scheduled to face Cincinnati right-hander Rhett Lowder.
For now, the streak is six.
And with Skubal settling in and Teoscar suddenly looking like one of the most dangerous hitters in the lineup, the Dodgers are finally beginning to build the momentum they spent most of the summer searching for.