Jason Schmidt made his first start in over two years on Monday, and the Dodger offense was behind him to give him and the Dodgers a 7-5 win over the Reds.
Schmidt struggled in the first inning, allowing a triple that was nearly a homerun to the first batter. He allowed three runs to score before escaping the inning, but settled down after that to pitch the next four innings giving up no runs. He was lifted after five, and James McDonald and Ramon Troncoso combined for three shutout innings before Broxton closed out the ninth in 1-2-3 fashion for his 23rd save.
The Dodgers answered to the Reds’ three first-inning runs with four of their own in the bottom half of the frame. The Dodgers plated four on five hits, three of them doubles, including a bunt-double by Rafael Furcal. Manny Ramirez put the Dodgers up by three with a two-run shot in the second, his 537th career homerun to pass Mickey Mantle for 15th on the all-time list. Andre Ethier belted his second hit of the night with a solo homerun in the fifth for his team-leading 19th homerun of the season.
Randy Wolf will take on Homer Bailey in Tuesday’s matchup. Wolf has just one win since the beginning of June and is 8-2 lifetime against the Reds, while Bailey is a recent Triple-A call-up for the Reds and is 1-1 with a 6.43 ERA this season.
