Gonzo's blast backs Wood in first Dodgers win
LOS ANGELES -- Alex Wood earned his first win since joining the Dodgers and Adrian Gonzalez hit a three-run home run to pace the Dodgers to a 5-3 win over the Reds on Friday night.
In his home debut, Wood (8-7) lasted 6 1/3 innings and surrendered three runs. He was pulled in favor of Jim Johnson after just 82 pitches but the Dodgers' bullpen closed out the final 2 2/3 with scoreless relief. The Dodgers used a four-run fifth inning, headlined by Gonzalez's homer, to take a 5-1 lead and never looked back.
"I thought I threw the ball pretty good," Wood said. "It's nice to get my first win as a Dodger, especially here at home."
Video: CIN@LAD: Mattingly on Wood, state of team in win
In his Major League debut, John Lamb took the loss for the Reds. As one of the pitchers acquired from the Royals in the trade of Johnny Cueto, he allowed five runs in six innings and struck out seven. Joey Votto hit a two-run homer in the sixth to bring the Reds within two, but Cincinnati couldn't get any closer.
"I had fun out there, certainly looking at the line, disappointed," Lamb said. "One pitch there to Gonzalez --- I wish I could get it back, but he beat me."
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Pena pounces on bunt: In a sacrifice situation in the Dodgers' fifth, Wood botched his bunt with a low popup just left of the plate. Reds catcher Brayan Pena reacted quickly and lunged for a successful catch. Joc Pederson, who was running from first base, was thrown out in a double play.
"Pena made a real nice play on the bunt attempt, a diving catch on the popup and throws back and gets Pederson at first," Reds manager Bryan Price said. "Things are looking good, but you end up going through that lineup and Rollins gets things going and it goes on and on."
Video: CIN@LAD: Pena reacts quickly to make a great catch
Dodgers strike with two outs: After the web-gem double play by Pena, the Dodgers had the bases empty with two outs in the fifth. Things escalated quickly as the top of the order recorded four straight hits, capped by a three-run homer from Gonzalez to give the Dodgers a 5-1 lead.
"You look at things that good teams do, after I screw up the bunt and the double play, you look at what happened right after, that's the sign of a really good ballclub," Wood said.
Video: CIN@LAD: Turner singles to take the lead in the 5th
Votto drives in three: Votto, who hit an RBI double in the first inning, was responsible for all of the Reds' runs on Friday. In the sixth, he narrowed the Dodgers' lead by hitting a 1-1 pitch from Wood for the two-run homer to left-center field. It was Votto's 21st homer of the season, which is second on the club.
Video: CIN@LAD: Votto hits a two-run shot to reduce deficit
Top of the order does damage: It was the top of the order that propelled the Dodgers' offense to victory. The Nos. 1-4 hitters for Los Angeles combined to go 8-for-15 with all five RBIs. Kike´ Hernandez tied a career-high with three hits and Justin Turner was 2-for-3 with two RBIs, including a sacrifice fly to get the Dodgers on the board in the first.
"I think you're always at an advantage once you see a guy a couple times," Dodgers manager Mattingly said. "Kike´ continues to swing, Jimmy's been swinging the bat good, it's nice to have JT back in there and obviously Gonz. That was a big inning for us."
QUOTABLE
"He's got good stuff. He's got velocity, movement, deception. He's got a real nice big overhand curveball and a real nice changeup. He has the full mix and complement of pitches." -- Price on seeing Lamb pitch for the first time
"Tonight was the best of the three that I've thrown so far. I'm trying to earn the respect of the guys in the locker room here and hopefully tonight was a step in the right direction." -- Wood on his third start and first win with the Dodgers
Video: CIN@LAD: Wood strikes out Votto swinging in the 3rd
SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
Lamb was the eighth rookie starter to pitch for the Reds this season, tying the modern club record set previously in 1901, 1902, 1907 and 1908. Lamb also had never taken a professional at-bat at any level in the Minors prior to batting vs. Wood on Friday. In his first at-bat, he went without batting gloves. More >
"That was the first time swinging the stick against a live arm in quite a while. It was fun, man," Lamb said. "Left-on-left was definitely not my favorite thing to do back in high school. ... I definitely wasn't planning on going up there and striking out twice, but at the same time I wasn't going up there expecting two singles or a double -- I was just trying to have fun."
Video: CIN@LAD: Lamb's parents on excitement of MLB debut
UNDER FURTHER REVIEW
The Dodgers challenged the ruling on the field that Carl Crawford stole second base in the seventh inning. Crawford went with a feet-first slide and the tag was applied to his shin. After a three minute, 11 second review,, the call on the field stood and Crawford was out.
Video: CIN@LAD: Crawford caught stealing after review in 7th
WHAT'S NEXT
Reds: In Saturday's 9:10 p.m. ET game, lefty David Holmberg will make his fourth start of the season. Holmberg took the 2-1 loss on Monday at San Diego, giving up only two runs on Justin Upton's two-run homer over a career-high 6 ⅔ innings.
Dodgers: Brett Anderson will look to bounce back from his worst start of the season. Anderson allowed a season-high seven runs in a loss to the Nationals in his last outing. He has never faced the Reds in his career.
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