CINCINNATI -- The Reds’ rotation came into Friday with the third-best ERA in the National League without him, but if there were a time this season that they really needed Alex Wood, this weekend vs. the Dodgers is it. Wood, acquired from Los Angeles and one of three starting pitchers Cincinnati picked up in the offseason, has been on the injured list all season because of back spasms.

The key ingredient Wood would have brought is his left arm. Cincinnati has four lefties in its bullpen but none in its rotation. Against the Dodgers’ left-handed-heavy starting lineup in a 6-0 Reds loss, right-hander Anthony DeSclafani was hit hard.

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“We definitely have to find ways to get out their left-handed hitters. It presents a challenge,” Reds manager David Bell said. “Not only are they left-handed, but they’re good left-handed hitters. We believe in our starters’ ability to be able to do that.”

Over four innings, DeSclafani was tagged for four earned runs and six hits with no walks and four strikeouts. All of the runs came via a career-high-tying three home runs by Corey Seager in the second inning and back-to-back shots from Joc Pederson and Max Muncy to open the third inning.

All three of those homers were slugged by lefties. Pederson’s and Muncy’s long balls came against curveballs.

Against a Mets lineup that featured five lefty hitters on May 1, DeSclafani rolled, allowing three hits over 5 2/3 scoreless innings. He acknowledged the difficulty of facing this Dodgers lineup, but he did not let himself off the hook.

“It’s definitely a really good, powerful lineup to say the least, but I’m up in the big leagues and I should have some way to get them out,” DeSclafani said. “It’s a get-it-done league. It’s not a try league. I just have to get it done, and I didn’t get it done.”

Over his career, Wood’s lefty-righty splits are almost even with a .248 average vs. right-handed hitters and .246 for lefty hitters. But after he’s endured multiple setbacks since he was injured at Spring Training, his timetable to debut for his new club is murky. The hope was he could resume a throwing program next week after he spent the past two weeks being shut down after discomfort flared up again.

Entering Friday night, lefties were hitting .296 with a .535 slugging percentage against DeSclafani while right-handers were at a .174 average and slugging .349.

In his nine starts overall, DeSclafani is 2-2 with a 4.60 ERA.

“It just seemed like I got lucky pretty much the whole night with line drives smoked right at guys. I wasn’t fooling anybody,” DeSclafani said. “I guess you’re going to have those nights, but it’s just pretty frustrating in general, especially when you’re just trying to get better. It’s like a punch in the face. I just have to put it behind me and just keep working.”

If fairness to DeSclafani, the lefty relievers that followed him -- Cody Reed and Zach Duke -- were not immune to runs while they each worked two innings.

In the sixth inning against Reed, Cody Bellinger led off and reached on a strike three wild pitch and scored from second base on Enrique Hernández’s two-out RBI single. Opening the top of the eighth against Duke, Bellinger smoked a homer to right-center field.

Meanwhile, the Reds lineup didn’t have much of an answer against Dodgers starter Rich Hill. The 39-year-old lefty allowed two hits over six innings with 10 strikeouts to shut down Cincinnati’s lineup.

In a sign of how much things have changed in a season, seeing a Reds starter get roughed up is a unique occurrence in 2019. The pitching staff’s 3.32 ERA entering the night led the National League while the rotation’s 3.44 ERA was third.

“It’s been so rare,” Bell said. “They’ve all done a great job, and on occasion, this is going to happen. The key is to get right back on track, and we anticipate that Disco can do that.”