Heaney K's 11, Freeman drives in 3 as Dodgers complete four-game sweep of Reds with 9-1 win
The newest Los Angeles Dodgers showed out Sunday afternoon, as they completed a four-game sweep of the Cincinnati Reds on the back of six shutout innings from starter Andrew Heaney and a trio of RBIs from Freddie Freeman.
Heaney (1-0, 0.00 ERA) finished going six strong, walking three batters and allowing just one hit as he struck out 11 Reds, earning his first win in Dodger blue. In two starts he still has yet to allow a run this season.
The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the fourth inning when the Dodgers struck for seven runs against Cincinnati starter Tyler Mahle (1-1, 5.68 ERA), who up to this point had a nearly spotless record against L.A.
Things started well enough for Mahle, who struck out four Dodgers through the first three innings, allowing just one hit in the first inning, a Justin Turner double.
Everything went south quickly to start the bottom of the fourth though, when he allowed a hit to Freeman, a walk to Trea Turner, and a two-run double to Max Muncy in just the first three batters.
The Dodgers followed up with a single from Justin Turner and a Will Smith double which scored Muncy before Mahle secured the first out of the inning, getting Cody Bellinger to ground out.
Chris Taylor would drive in another pair. of runs just one batter later though, when he doubled in both J. Turner and Smith. Mahle then walked Gavin Lux before getting Mookie Betts out on strikes for the second out.
Just when it looked like he would escape the jam, a double steal from Taylor and Lux put two in scoring position for Freddie Freeman, who hit his second single of the inning, scoring both runners.
Mahle finished the game going just 3.1 innings, allowing seven runs on seven hits, striking out five while walking two.
The game went quiet shortly after, with neither team scoring until the top of the eighth when the Reds scored their lone run of the contest off of reliever Justin Bruihl (2.25 ERA) on a Tyler Naquin single that plated Jake Fraley, who had singled to start the inning.
The Boys in Blue tacked on two additional insurance runs in the bottom of the inning, once again at the hands of a Freeman single and a Hanser Alberto single, putting the Dodgers up for good 9-1.
Freeman finished the contest with four hits, three runs driven in and a run scored.
The Dodgers will host the reigning World Series champions in the Atlanta Braves on Monday at 7:10 p.m. following the conclusion of their four game series against the San Diego Padres on Sunday Night Baseball.
Clayton Kershaw (1-0, 0.00 ERA), coming off of seven perfect innings in a Wednesday matchup against the Minnesota Twins will toe the bump for the Dodgers, facing off against the Braves Huascar Ynoa (0-1, 15.00 ERA).
