If the Los Angeles Dodgers fall short in the competitiv

CINCINNATI (AP) —e NL West Jackie Bradley Jr Jersey , they can blame Scooter Gennett and the Cincinnati Reds.Gennett snapped out of an 0-for-9 slump with four hits and three RBIs, Joey Votto hit a two-run double on his birthday and the Reds improved to 5-0 against the Dodgers this season with a 10-6 victory Monday night.“I’ve had a couple rough games in a row,” Gennett said. “It’s good to have a short memory sometimes. You can’t let a couple bad games dictate attitude or focus.”Eugenio Suarez added a solo home run for the last-place Reds, and Jose Peraza scored three runs. That helped Cincinnati overcome Chris Taylor’s two-run homer and Yasmani Grandal’s solo shot.Los Angeles dropped 1½ games behind first-place Colorado when the Rockies routed visiting Arizona. The Dodgers had taken two of three at Coors Field last weekend to trim their deficit.The Reds won the series opener after a four-game sweep at Dodger Stadium in May.“The first time around, they pitched us well, and we still haven’t figured out how to get Gennett out,” Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said. “Obviously, we don’t expect to be 0-5 against anybody.”Jared Hughes (4-3) got Yasiel Puig to line into a bases-loaded double play to end the seventh after an 11-pitch at-bat.“We were one hit away from it being a completely different game,” Roberts said.Hughes added a perfect eighth to get the win.“That was the second time this year I’ve faced Puig with runners on and he’s hit a line drive to third,” said Hughes, who fell behind Puig with a 2-0 count. “Before that he was 4 for 4 against me with two home runs. I think that is the line.”Gennett went 4 for 5 to boost his batting average to .320 with his sixth multihit game in his last nine appearances. He took over the league lead from Milwaukee outfielder Christian Yelich, who is hitting .315.Votto, celebrating his 35th birthday, just missed a three-run homer in Cincinnati’s four-run first inning Roger Clemens Jersey , settling for a two-run double with a drive that bounced off the yellow padding along the top of the right-field wall and stayed in play.Alex Wood (8-7) was knocked around in his shortest outing in 14 starts since lasting a season-low two innings on June 3 at Colorado. The Reds piled up eight hits and seven runs, six earned, against him with two walks and six strikeouts. The seven runs allowed matched Wood’s season high, set on April 11 in the third of his team-high 27 starts.“It was one of those nights when I didn’t have anything,” Wood said. “You try to battle, but this is not a place where you can come and not be sharp and expect to do well.”Taylor hit his second homer in three games off left-hander Cody Reed, who overcame a 30-pitch first inning to last four. He gave up five hits and three runs with three walks and five strikeouts.Reed struck out Enrique Hernandez to leave the bases loaded in the first.BEEN A WHILEThe Reds’ five-game winning streak against Los Angeles is their longest since winning seven straight in 1976.POWER SURGEThe Dodgers have hit at least one home run in 18 straight games, the longest streak since the team moved to Los Angeles in 1958. The franchise record is 24 in a row, set by Brooklyn in 1953.FAR EAST-BOUNDSuarez and Taylor will be among the major leaguers headed to Japan to play seven games against Japanese players in November.BACK TO EARTHDodgers closer Kenley Jansen rejoined the team in Cincinnati after avoiding Denver. Jansen developed an irregular heartbeat on the team’s last Colorado trip and the team cardiologist advised him not to pitch at higher altitudes.ROSS GETS NODDodgers RHP Ross Stripling (8-3) will start Wednesday’s series finale, Roberts said. LHP Clayton Kershaw was originally scheduled to start before being pushed back a day to start at St. Louis on Thursday. The start will be Stripling’s 18th, and first since Aug. 9. He came off the disabled list Friday after being out since Aug. 12 with lower back inflammation.TRAINER’S ROOMDodgers: LHP Julio Urias was activated from the disabled list after missing more than a year following left shoulder surgery in June 2017.Reds: LHP Amir Garrett was activated off the DL. Garrett was out since Aug. 29 with a bruised left foot.UP NEXTDodgers: LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu (4-2), the scheduled starter Tuesday at Cincinnati, allowed 10 hits and five runs — one earned — in six innings of Los Angeles’ 7-3 loss to the Mets last Wednesday.Reds: RHP Luis Castillo (8-12) was tagged for a career-high three homers in his last start Thursday against San Diego. WASHINGTON (AP) — The Washington Nationals need starting pitchers beyond Max Scherzer to excel if they’re going to make a run at the Phillies and Braves in the NL East.Count Tanner Roark in.Matt Wieters homered to back Roark, who went seven innings to win his third straight start Andrew Benintendi Jersey , and the Nationals defeated the Cincinnati Reds 2-1 on Sunday.The Nationals took three of four from the Reds and have won eight of 11 overall with the second-place Braves coming to town for a four-game series beginning Tuesday.“They’re fighting, they’re hitting, they’re pitching. They’re doing everything right,” Washington manager Dave Martinez said of his team. “So, let’s keep it going.”Roark (6-12) allowed a run on seven singles and got a nice ovation when he made a diving stop on Billy Hamilton’s comebacker to end the seventh.Leading 2-0, Roark allowed four straight singles to open the fourth with Mason William’s hit pulling the Reds within 2-1. Roark then retired Tucker Barnhart on a pop to short, struck out Brandon Dixon and got Castillo on a fly to right.“It’s easy to get in your own head in that spot,” Roark said. “You’ve just got to continue to grind and make your pitches and not give in.”In his last three outings, Roark has allowed two earned runs in 22 innings (0.82 ERA) with 20 strikeouts and a walk after going more than a month-and-a-half without a win.“He’s definitely got confidence right now,” Martinez said. “For him, doing what he’s doing right now, we need that.”Bryce Harper had two hits including an RBI double and is batting .367 since the All-Star break.Kelvin Herrera worked the ninth for his third Washington save.There was no carryover from Saturday night’s game — in which Harper and Joey Votto were hit by pitches — until the seventh when Michael Lorenzen’s fastball sailed behind Washington’s Adam Eaton with two outs and Eaton glared at the mound.Harper started in center Sunday while Votto did not start but was called out on strikes as a pinch hitter to end the game.Cincinnati’s Luis Castillo (6-9) allowed two runs on six hits in 5 1/3 innings.The Braves managed just one hit against Roark after the fourth.“He’s not blowing you away the way Scherzer can,” Reds manager Jim Riggleman said, “but he’s just a guy who knows what he’s doing out there and keeps mixing it up and had us off balance quite a bit during the day.Wieters made it 1-0 in the second inning when he sent a 2-0 Castillo fastball into the second deck in right and Harper’s third-inning double made it 2-0.VOTTO’S TAKEVotto Luis Tiant Jersey , visibly angry after getting hit by Ryan Madson, didn’t speak with reporters following Saturday’s game. Asked Sunday morning if Madson’s pitch that hit him was intentional, he responded: “I have no idea. My reaction kind of falls in line with that. I reacted. I had no idea at the time when I reacted, and I still don’t, now.”TRAINER’S ROOMReds: Riggleman said Votto’s absence Sunday was not due to getting hit. “Just basically normal aches and pains,” he said. “It’s deep into the season and three games in two days, day game after night game, just kind of at the point today, this would be a day off.” Votto demurred: “I want to play every day. I’d like to play every inning of every game all year long.”Nationals: SS Trea Turner (0 for 9 in Saturday’s doubleheader) was not in in the starting lineup for just the fourth time this season. He was intentionally walked as a pinch hitter in the eighth.UP NEXTReds: RHP Homer Bailey (1-8, 5.87) pitches the opener of the three-game series against the Mets Monday in New York. He’s 1-5 with a 7.22 ERA in seven starts versus New York.Nationals: RHP Jefry Rodriguez (0-1, 6.86) and RHP Max Scherzer (15-5, 2.33) will pitch in a day-night double-header that opens a four-game series against the visiting Braves.