Chad Billingsley hurled seven innings of four-hit, shutout ball to lead Los Angeles past Cincinnati, 4-1, in the middle contest of a three-game set at Dodger Stadium.
Billingsley (4-5) struck out seven and walked just two, adding an RBI single in winning his fourth decision in his last five starts.
It was the first time this season the right-hander failed to allow a run when on the hill to begin a game. His only other scoreless outing came in two relief innings back on April 4 in a 7-1 Los Angeles Dodgers win at San Diego.
Juan Pierre and Matt Kemp each drove in a run and scored once for the Dodgers, who have won three of four. Russell Martin and Billingsley knocked in the final two runs.
Edwin Encarnacion knocked in a run for the Reds, who have dropped two in a row after a six-game win streak. Adam Dunn, who tied a Reds franchise record with home runs in five consecutive games, finished 1-for-3 with a run scored.
Cincy starter Matt Belisle (1-4) was charged with seven hits and three runs over six-plus innings in defeat.
"I thought Matt pitched great,"
said Reds manager Dusty Baker. "They just got some weird hits in the second inning and scored. Billingsley also threw well. We just didn't have many chances to score."
The Dodgers scratched out a pair of runs in the second, and the Reds had to use some timely defense to prevent more from crossing the plate.
Kent and James Loney stroked back-to-back singles to put runners on the corners with none out. Kemp grounded to Encarnacion at third and he threw to catcher David Ross, but the ball escaped his glove and skittered to the backstop as Kent slid safely into home. Loney went to third and Kemp to second, and Blake DeWitt followed with an infield single to load the bases.
Chin-Lung Hu bounced one to Joey Votto at first, and while he missed a step to tag the bag, he got a force out at home. Billingsley stepped in and laced a single to right to score Kemp, then Pierre grounded to Belisle who again got a force out at the plate. Although the bases remained loaded, Ethier ended the inning with a groundout.
Kemp robbed Ken Griffey of extra bases in the fourth when the fleet-footed outfielder caught his deep fly to right-center halfway up the wall.
The Reds had runners on first and third with one out in the sixth, but Billingsley induced an inning-ending double play from Brandon Phillips.
"I had good command of my fastball, and I was getting ahead of hitters,"
Billingsley noted of his performance. "I knew Adam had homered in five straight games, so I didn't want to give him anything he could hit. I stayed down and away from him and the others."
LA tacked on a two more in the seventh on Pierre's RBI single and a fielder's choice from Russell Martin which sent Pierre home.
Joe Beimel allowed a run-scoring single from Encarnacion with two outs in the ninth to break the shutout, but Takashi Saito finished the game and earned his seventh save by striking out pinch-hitter Ryan Freel.
Game Notes
The Dodgers have beaten the Reds eight consecutive times at home, dating back to July 2005 and have topped Cincinnati in seven of the last 10 games overall since the start of the 2007 campaign...Dunn's streak of eight games with at least one RBI was also halted...Attendance was 34,306.
