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‘Red-Hot' Dodgers Sweep Cincinnati, 3-1, behind Scott Kazmir's 12 K's.

Yasmani Grandal homered, Scott Kazmir struck out 12 and the Los Angeles Dodgers completed the three-game sweep of the Cincinnati Reds, 3-1, on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium.

LOS ANGELES – The Dodgers were sitting dead red.

Yasmani Grandal homered, Scott Kazmir struck out 12 and the Los Angeles Dodgers completed the three-game sweep of the Cincinnati Reds, 3-1, on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium. 

The futile-Reds dropped their 10th consecutive game and ninth in a row to Los Angeles as they fell 17 games out of first place in the Central Division, the largest gap in all of baseball. 

"They're not playing great baseball," Dodgers' manager Dave Roberts said of the Reds. "But for us to take care of business and win three here at home, we're feeling pretty good about ourselves right now."

Joc Pederson crashed into the wall, and then crashed the party for Cincinnati in the fourth inning: 

After a single by Brandon Phillips, Jay Bruce hit a deep pop fly to centerfield that Pederson couldn't handle as he crashed into the wall, collapsing onto the ground. Thankfully, left-fielder Howie Kendrick backed up the play, hit his cutoff man, Chase Utley, and the veteran second baseman was able to gun down Bruce at the plate as he went for an inside-the-park home run.

"He hit the ball good, but I thought I had a good chance to catch it," Pederson said of the play. "Howie was there to back up, he hit the cutoff man, and Chase made a great throw."

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The play turned out to be a turning point for the Dodgers as they held the Reds to just one-run heading into the bottom half of the inning. 

"That was huge," Kazmir said of the play. "It brought the momentum back on our side. All of a sudden we give up a run and they have the lead, but Bruce tries to make it two runs and instead we get two outs."

With the bases-loaded and two outs, a still injured Pederson hit a two-run single to right field—right at Bruce—to give the Dodgers a 2-1 lead.

"I was still a little sore," Pederson said of the at-bat. "It was a good hit."

Grandal tacked on an insurance run an inning later when he sent a solo shot into the Reds' bullpen in the bottom of the fifth inning off Dan Straily.

Straily (2-2) took the loss allowing three runs on three hits with a caree-high 11 strikeouts in seven strong innings. 

"He pitched a great game," Reds' manager Bryan Price said. "I don't see hitters see him very well, there's some natural deception and he has a great change up."

Kazmir (4-3) picked up the win in one of his better performances of the season. The left-hander surrendered just one run on four hits, striking out a season-high 12 batters in six innings.

"My rhythm is getting a lot better. I felt like I had a good fastball," Kazmir said. "That's the key to have good fastball command in order for me to throw the rest of my pitches."

Kenley Jansen worked a perfect ninth inning for his 14th save of the season as the Dodgers won a season-high four games in a row. 

Players of the Game:

Scott Kazmir: 1 run on 4 hits with 12 strikeouts in 6 IP.
Joc Pederson: Two-run single in 4th.
Yasmani Grandal: Home run. 

Three Takeaways:

1. K for Kazmir: Los Angeles Dodgers' pitcher Scott Kazmir struck out a season-high 12 batters on Wednesday night. It was just the third time in his career that he struck out 12 or more batters in a game.

2. Why Do They Call Him 'Crash?': Los Angeles Dodgers' outfielder Joc Pederson crashed into the wall in centerfield and was unable to make the play on an RBI triple for Jay Bruce. Thankfully, Pederson redeemed himself with a clutch-hit in the bottom half of the inning to win it for the Dodgers.

3. Dodgers Dominance: The Los Angeles Dodgers have won nine games in a row over Cincinnati as they sweep them for the first time since 2013. The nine-game winning streak over the Reds is the Dodgers' longest active streak against any opponent.

Up Next:

Reds (15-32): Cincinnati will get an off-day on Thursday before flying to Milwaukee to open up a three-game series with the Brewers.

Dodgers (25-23): Los Angeles concludes a 20-game straight stretch with a day off on Thursday before flying to New York to face the Mets.

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