Jonathan India hit a go-ahead grand slam in the fifth inning and the Cincinnati Reds earned a 9-6 victory over the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday, their second series-opening win over L.A. in eight days.
Spencer Steer hit a three-run home run and Stuart Fairchild added a solo homer for the Reds, who won May 16 at Los Angeles and then lost five of six. Fairchild also made two spectacular catches against the wall, robbing Will Smith and Mookie Betts of extra bases.
Cincinnati starter Graham Ashcraft (4-3) gave up five runs on eight hits over 5 1/3 innings.
Smith and Teoscar Hernandez hit home runs for the Dodgers and Betts had three hits, including an RBI double. Chris Taylor added a two-run double as the Dodgers lost three consecutive games for the first time since mid-April.
Dodgers starter James Paxton had his worst outing of the season, giving up five runs on five hits with four walks in 4 2/3 innings.
Fairchild and Jeimer Candelario walked in the first inning for the Reds and Steer cleared the wall in left-center for his fifth home run of the season and a 3-0 lead.
The Dodgers were quick to respond. Taylor hit a two-run double to the wall in left-center for just his seventh hit and RBI of the season in 30 games. He entered with an .097 batting average.
Betts added an RBI ground-rule double to tie the score 3-3 in the second and Shohei Ohtani put the Dodgers up 4-3 on a run-scoring groundout.
Smith gave the Dodgers a 5-3 lead in the fifth inning with a homer to right-center, his sixth.
The Reds roared back in the bottom of the fifth, knocking Paxton out of the game with a leadoff home run from Fairchild, his fourth, and a two-out walk to Steer. Right-handed reliever Yohan Ramirez offered no help, throwing 13 pitches, just one of them for a strike.
Ramirez (0-2) hit both Tyler Stephenson and Nick Martini with pitches, including Martini with the bases loaded to tie the score 5-5. India hit his grand slam off left-hander Alex Vesia on a 3-2 fastball. It was his third home run of the season. India finished 3-for-3.
Los Angeles pitchers walked nine batters.
Hernandez hit a home run in the ninth for the Dodgers, his 12th.
–Field Level Media
