Shohei Ohtani delivers a Walk-Off Single in the 10th inning of the Dodgers’ 3-2 win over Cincinnati

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shohei Ohtani delivered his second major league walk-off hit on Sunday, a two-out single in the 10th inning that sent the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 3-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.

Andy Pages hit an early two-run homer for the Dodgers, who won 20 of 26 after taking three of four against Cincinnati.

Pinch-hitter Will Smith drew a walk with one out in the 10th by Alexis Díaz (1-3), which caused Mookie Betts to fly out before Ohtani singled to right to score Jason Heyward. Ohtani’s latest performance sparked a loud celebration in front of another large weekend crowd at Dodger Stadium, and the two-time AL MVP’s teammates doused him with water in celebration.

“I just wanted to put the ball in play, so I’m glad it turned out well,” Ohtani said through an interpreter. “We dropped the first game of the series, so we really wanted to finish strong.”

Ohtani’s only other walk-off hit in Major League Baseball was an 11th-inning single for the Los Angeles Angels in a 6–5 win over Houston on September 4, 2020.

“He’s had a lot of big hits for us,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “But the first walk-off, especially at home, was exciting.”

Stuart Fairchild had two goals for the Reds, who lost 15 of 18. Cincinnati has also lost seven straight series.

Anthony Banda (1-0) retired the side in the 10th in his debut with the Dodgers, who acquired the reliever from Cleveland on Friday. Banda’s win was his first since May 28, 2022 with Pittsburgh. He has pitched for the Blue Jays, Yankees, Nationals and Dodgers – and played in the Guardians’ minor league system – since leaving the Pirates less than two years ago.

Cincinnati reliever Emilio Pagan left abruptly with two outs in the ninth and a 2-1 hit off Heyward. Pagan recorded two outs before throwing three straight fastballs to Heyward and then heading to the dugout.

Diaz struck out Heyward to force extra innings.

Hunter Greene struck out eight while throwing four-hit ball in the seventh inning for Cincinnati in his second career start in his hometown. The hard-throwing right-hander received youth coaching at Compton’s Major League Baseball Urban Youth Academy and played high school ball at Sherman Oaks before the Reds made him the second overall pick in the 2017 amateur draft.

“Only one pitch got the best of me, but other than that I felt like I was pretty focused,” Greene said. “It’s obviously not fun that we’re going through this, but we’re just going to go out there and try to compete and do our best.”

Landon Knack yielded one run on three hits over the first 4 2/3 innings for the Dodgers in his fourth Major League appearance. Knack made three starts in April, and he was recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City for this spot start, apparently so the Dodgers could give Yoshinobu Yamamoto a full week of rest.

“When you play for an organization that has as much talent as this one, you have to understand what your opportunities are going to be and you just have to take them,” Knack said.

Freddie Freeman singled in the fourth inning before Pages put Greene’s bad slider into the short porch down the left field line for the fifth home run of his rookie season.

Cincinnati had been shut out for 16 straight innings at Chavez Ravine before scoring on back-to-back doubles to left in the fifth by Fairchild and Santiago Espinal, whose catchable drive fooled Teoscar Hernández.

Cincinnati tied the score in the seventh when pinch-hitter Spencer Steer – coming from Long Beach in an 0-for-16 slump – scored a bases-loaded walk on nine pitches by Alex Vesia, who then escaped the jam.

NEXT ONE

Reds: Andrew Abbott (2-4, 3.06 ERA) takes the mound Tuesday at home to start a series against San Diego.

Dodgers: Yamamoto (4-1, 3.21 ERA) takes the mound Monday to open a three-game home series against Arizona.