LOS ANGELES — Thursday will be a slightly less busy day of playoff baseball as the Los Angeles Dodgers became the only team in the four Wild Card Series to sweep their series, finishing off the Cincinnati Reds with an 8-4 victory in Game 2 on Wednesday. The Dodgers move on to face the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League Division Series beginning Saturday at Citizens Bank Park.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, certified October performer
Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s first foray into the postseason last October brought with it doubt. He was still feeling things out. So Kiké Hernández invited him to breakfast before Yamamoto’s start against the San Diego Padres in Game 5 of the National League Division Series, trying to instill confidence in the pitcher dubbed the best in Japan three times.
That confidence translated into a World Series run, and his full-season performance in 2025 will net Yamamoto some Cy Young votes. His stellar work continued into a tightrope walk of a sixth inning, when the Reds strung together three consecutive singles to load the bases in a one-run game.
Yamamoto escaped and kept on rolling. He didn’t allow an earned run in his 6 2/3 innings, lowering his career postseason ERA to 2.84.
Yoshinobu roars in Game 2. 🦁 pic.twitter.com/ixXVbzapOH
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 2, 2025
Reds offense still not ready for primetime
The Reds capitalized on Teoscar Hernández’s first-inning error to grab an early lead against Yamamoto on rookie Sal Stewart’s two-run single. Yamamoto struck out Elly De La Cruz to end the inning, starting a streak of 13 consecutive batters retired by the Dodgers’ ace.
After the Dodgers went ahead with a pair of runs in the fourth, the Reds had a chance to reclaim the lead when TJ Friedl, Spencer Steer and Gavin Lux hit back-to-back singles, loading the bases with no outs.
Austin Hays hit into a fielder’s choice with Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts getting the force at home before Yamamoto struck out Stewart and De La Cruz, ending the threat. A four-run bottom of the inning put the game on cruise control that even the Dodgers’ beleaguered bullpen couldn’t blow.
The Reds’ starting pitching, their strength, fell short in the postseason, but it is the offense that struggled all season long to find consistency.
The team will either have to address the offense in the offseason or see significant improvement from the young core of players such as De La Cruz, second baseman Matt McLain and outfielder Noelvi Marte.
Stewart, though, showed he’s not afraid of the spotlight of the big stage. Exactly one month after his big-league debut, the 21-year-old Stewart had a pair of hits and drove in three runs after working a bases-loaded walk as a pinch-hitter in Game 1. Stewart finished 2 for 4, with a two-run single in the first off Yamamoto and then another RBI single against reliever Emmet Sheehan in the eighth.
The Dodgers will have to keep tacking on whenever possible this October
This is always a truism. But when given this Dodgers bullpen, it’s a necessity to outrun whatever this relief unit gives up. The Dodgers’ offense pounded the Reds, searching for a breaking point and hammering for 18 runs over the two nights.
The Dodgers’ ability to pile on emerged in the sixth on Wednesday night. Their offense followed up Yamamoto’s escape act by building an inning against Reds relief ace Nick Martinez (who had a 2.50 ERA against the Dodgers for his career entering this series). With the Dodgers up 3-2, Shohei Ohtani brought home an insurance run with a single through the right side. Betts added another run with his third hit of the game, a double down the line that nicked off of Ke’Bryan Hayes’ glove. Then, after an intentional walk of Freddie Freeman, Teoscar Hernández delivered with a two-run single up the middle to negate the two runs he was responsible for because of his first-inning defensive error.
The Reds’ piggyback plan worked — to an extent
Zack Littell performed better than anyone expected and Nick Lodolo looked much more comfortable coming out of the bullpen this time, but Reds manager Terry Francona may have pushed his luck by sending Littell out for a fourth inning.
With Lodolo and Nick Martinez both in the bullpen and capable of handling multiple innings, not to mention the Reds’ regular back end of the bullpen in setup man Tony Santillan and closer Emilio Pagán, neither of whom appeared in Game 1, Francona could’ve pulled the trigger on Littell earlier.
Littell gave up a run in the third and then allowed three hits and two runs to the four batters he faced in the fourth before giving way to Lodolo.
(Photo of Kiké Hernández: Ronald Martinez / Getty Images)