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Cincinnati Reds Fall to Dodgers in John Lamb’s Big League Debut

By Matt Wilkes|

W: Alex Wood (8-7)

L: John Lamb (0-1)

SV: Kenley Jansen (23)

The box score won’t show it, but John Lamb was quite impressive in his major league debut with the Cincinnati Reds on Friday night. Unfortunately, one bad inning did him in, as the Los Angeles Dodgers came away with a 5-3 win.

The lefty, who grew up an hour from Dodger Stadium, struck out seven hitters, displaying a fastball that seemed to explode out of his hand and excellent off-speed pitches.

It was the fifth inning that doomed Lamb and the Reds, however. A leadoff walk was quickly erased on a nice play by catcher Brayan Pena, who laid out to catch a fouled bunt attempt and doubled off Joc Pederson at first. But Lamb subsequently allowed four straight hits, the final one a three-run home run by Adrian Gonzalez—who was the rookie’s first career strikeout victim in the first inning—to put the Dodgers ahead 5-1 at the time.

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Lamb was ultimately charged with all five Dodgers runs on eight hits and two walks in his six innings of work, but the Reds have to be pleased overall with what they saw from the 25-year-old.

Offensively, Joey Votto drove home all three Reds runs on the night. He helped provide Lamb with some early run support before he ever took the mound, doubling to right-center field to score Eugenio Suarez from first base. After the Dodgers tied the game in the bottom of the first and took the lead in the fifth, Votto struck again, this time for a two-run homer in the sixth, his 21st of the season.

Aside from Votto and Suarez, the Reds offense didn’t get much going, with only five hits against Dodgers pitching, all off of starter Alex Wood. Over the final 2.2 innings, the bullpen combination of Jim Johnson, Pedro Baez, and Kenley Jansen didn’t allow a single Red to reach base.

Other Notes:

  • Burke Badenhop and Jumbo Diaz both got into some trouble in relief appearances, but were able to escape without allowing a run.
  • Since his move to the No. 2 spot in the lineup on Monday, Suarez has successfully reached base nine times in four games. He went 1-for-2 with two walks on Friday.
  • Kike Hernandez has proven to be a tough out for Reds pitching through the first two games of the series, going 6-for-8 with one walk.

Up Next: With the series locked at one win apiece, the Reds and Dodgers will meet again on Saturday at 9:10 p.m. EST for game three. For the second game in a row, it will be a battle of southpaws as David Holmberg toes the rubber for the Reds and Brett Anderson takes the hill for the Dodgers.

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