Reds Beat Dodgers 3-2

There was no overstating the importance of what the Reds did on Wednesday night. They brought a season-high four-game losing streak into the game and were faced with sinking further below .500

They needed, and Homer Bailey delivered, a stopper-like performance. And the Reds got something that’s often burned them this season — a victory in a one-run game by taking a 3-2 outcome over the Dodgers to end their winless drought and finish the three-game series on a high note.

“It was a really big win. Whew, we needed that one,” Bailey said. “You don’t ever want to get swept — I don’t care where you’re at or who you’re playing. We really needed that, especially with a road trip tonight heading over to Phoenix. We need to start that series on a good note.”

Bailey pitched seven innings and gave up two earned runs on five hits and one walk with six strikeouts. After struggles throughout the early part of the season, it was his third win in his last four starts and his fifth quality start in his last six outings.

“Homer pitched really well. I don’t know why he was struggling,” said losing Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw. “He looked really good tonight. His stuff was impressive.”

Bailey was the last starting pitcher to win for the Reds when he beat the Cardinals on Friday. In the days since, they’ve faced Jaime Garcia and Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals and Hyun-Jin Ryu and Zack Greinke of the Dodgers and had few answers.

Drawing the defending National League Cy Young Award winner in Kershaw was the latest hurdle. This time, the 23-28 Reds cleared it.

“We’re kind of past that early part of the season. We’re not in the early stages,” Reds manager Bryan Price said. “We’re getting into the meat of the middle of this thing. We need to play better, and we need to secure wins. Here is a great one-run victory where we grinded it out and found a way to get a lead. The bullpen did a great job of shutting it down. It was a huge win.”

While the strikeouts added up — the lefty had nine of the Dodgers staff’s 12 K’s to give the Reds 60 in the last five games — they took a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning.

Todd Frazier hit a one-out double to left field, and Brandon Phillips hit a 1-2 pitch into the left-center-field seats for a two-run homer. It gave Cincinnati its first lead since Friday’s win.

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