CINCINNATI -- The troubles that plagued the Reds on their road trip seem to have followed them back to Great American Ball Park, and the Dodgers took advantage in the series opener between the two teams Friday night. Less than a week after sweeping Cincinnati on its home turf, Los Angeles handed the Reds their seventh loss in a row -- tying a season high -- with a 3-1 victory.
Spoiling a quality start for Reds starter Tim Adleman, the Dodgers handed the righty the loss thanks to some solid two-out hitting. Los Angeles picked up at least one two-out hit in each of the first three innings, during which the Dodgers plated the game's opening two runs.
"We really do need to be able to have the starters carry the workload and keep us in the games, and [Adleman's] been doing a really good job of that," Reds manager Bryan Price said. "And that's a good thing. It's a good sign. You go, 'Well, it's just another loss.' Yeah, but it's a completely different game if he goes 2 1/3 and the bullpen's crushed, and we've got two more games with these guys and then head to Tampa."

With two down in the top of the second, Joc Pederson lifted a 2-1 fastball high into the air and over the wall in right field to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead. In the top of the third, Chris Taylor tacked on one more with a two-out RBI double.
"Joc's been working on slowing the body down, using the big part of the field and in turn got to balls inside, and they sped the bat up," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Pederson, who returned from the seven-day concussion list on Tuesday.
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The Reds were outscored 19-7 while being swept by the Padres in their last series, and the offensive struggles continued. In their returns to the lineup, Billy Hamilton and Zack Cozart combined to go 1-for-8 at the plate. The pair are now a combined 5-for-57 (.088) over their last seven games.

Cincinnati managed just four hits off Dodgers starter Alex Wood (7-0), who allowed only a solo homer to Devin Mesoraco while tying a career high with eight innings. He has started the season with 10 consecutive starts without a loss, the most since Orel Hershiser had 11 in 1985.
"We've been pretty good about pushing the envelope a little bit later in the game and getting ourselves back in the game," Price said. "And we just weren't really able to put a lot of pressure on Wood. He did a great job."

Los Angeles worked a little more two-out magic in the eighth, as a pair of walks and a single from Wood gave the Dodgers a 3-0 lead before Mesoraco's homer.
With the win, the Dodgers clinched the season series with the Reds for the fourth year in a row and picked up their seventh victory in eight games.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Reds miss opportunity:Eugenio Suarez led off the bottom of the second with a double to left field, but Cincinnati wasn't able to capitalize. After Scott Schebler moved Suarez over with a groundout, Jose Peraza grounded to Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager, who fired home to get Suarez easily at the plate. And with Mesoraco at the plate, Peraza was picked off and caught stealing to end the inning.

Wood brings the wood: With two outs in the top of the eighth, Wood stepped to the plate with runners on first and second and slapped a single down the right-field line, scratching across the Dodgers' third run of the night. The RBI single was just his second hit of the season.

QUOTABLE
"I was just glad I didn't mess it up." -- Wood, on snaring Mesoraco's sharp grounder up the middle and starting a 1-4-3 double play to quash a fifth-inning threat

SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
After allowing a double to Hamilton leading off the ninth inning, Kenley Jansen struck out Cozart, Joey Votto and Adam Duvall on nine pitches for his 14th save in 14 opportunities, while extending his Major League record to start a season without allowing a walk to 28 2/3 innings.

WHAT'S NEXT
Dodgers:Hyun-Jin Ryu faces the Reds in Saturday's 1:10 p.m. PT game with a primary goal of keeping the ball in the park. In 57 innings Ryu has allowed 12 home runs, including three to the Reds when they met last Sunday in Los Angeles. That's triple the rate he allowed before he missed two seasons with injuries.
Reds:Asher Wojciechowski will make his fourth start of the season in Saturday's 4:10 p.m. ET game. He has yet to pick up a decision in a start this year, but has looked sharper of late, lasting at least five innings in each of his last two outings and keeping the ball in the park.
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