Walker Buehler pitched six scoreless innings in his third start in nearly two years, Freddie Freeman had an RBI and two runs, and the Los Angeles Dodgers earned a 4-0 victory over the visiting Cincinnati Reds on Saturday.
Buehler (1-1) gave up three hits over six innings with no walks and seven strikeouts as he earned a win for the first time since May 24, 2022. He made just three more starts that season before undergoing his second Tommy John surgery and enduring a lengthy rehab process.
Freeman batted second for Los Angeles while Shohei Ohtani was moved into the leadoff spot as Mookie Betts was given a rare day off. Ohtani went 0-for-4.
Reds right-hander Graham Ashcraft (3-3) gave up just three hits in five innings but also allowed three walks as the Dodgers cashed in for three runs off the Cincinnati starter. Ashcraft struck out five.
Jake Fraley had a triple, but the Reds finished with just three hits while falling to 3-6 on a 10-game, three-city road trip.
The Dodgers took a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning, getting an RBI single from rookie Andy Pages and a run-scoring groundout from Gavin Lux. Freeman delivered his RBI on a single in the fifth inning for a 3-0 lead.
Buehler was forced to escape a jam in the top of the fifth when Dodgers outfielders Miguel Vargas and Pages nearly collided in left-center on a line drive from Fraley. The ball deflected off Vargas’ glove for a one-out triple, but Buehler got Jeimer Candelario on a pop up and Jonathan India on a groundout to end the threat.
Buehler ended his outing with strikeouts of Elly De La Cruz and Mike Ford in the sixth.
Michael Grove pitched a scoreless seventh inning for the Dodgers, Daniel Hudson pitched a perfect eighth and J.P Feyereisen finished off his second save after Teoscar Hernandez delivered an RBI single.
Fraley was the only member of the Reds to advance past first base.
–Field Level Media
