Pache's two homers in one game and Shohei Ohtani's walk-on base help Sheehan pitch scoreless innings as Dodgers take sole lead in NL West

Following the recently concluded San Diego series, the Dodgers believe they have fulfilled their goals against the Padres this season. With the final stretch underway, the key is managing the remaining games to stay atop the NL West standings.

Today's game was an excellent start as the Dodgers routed the Reds 7-0 to win the series opener, powered by Andy Pages' two home runs and Emmet Sheehan's seven scoreless innings. Meanwhile, the Padres' loss to the Mariners gave Los Angeles a one-game lead in the division.

With strong performances on both offense and defense, plus some outstanding plays from outfielder and shortstop Mookie Betts, the Dodgers unleashed their firepower, reaching a level they haven't seen in a long time.

“He was dominant against those hitters tonight,” said manager Dave Roberts. “His pitching was really, really good tonight... I think the defense was fully engaged; everyone on the field showed that. From the first batter to the ninth, the offense was fantastic. To me, this might be one of our best, most complete games in months.”

Pages opened the scoring in the third inning by crushing a solo home run deep to left field off Hunter Greene. Two innings later, with Michael Conforto on second base, Pages hit another homer over the wall. This marked his second career multi-homer game, the first being on June 17 of this year.

Before today, Pages had faced Greene once last season. In that matchup, he also hit a home run off the Reds' right-handed pitcher.

“He's a very good pitcher with an excellent, top-tier fastball,” Pages said through translator Juan Dorado. “But we know that with pitchers like him, we have to take advantage of their mistakes. When he made those mistakes today, I felt I capitalized on them.”

In the sixth inning, with two outs and the bases loaded, Pages reached base due to a defensive error by shortstop Elly De La Cruz, adding two more runs. He then drove in another run with a sacrifice fly in the eighth, tying his career-high with four RBIs for the night.

“Andy was outstanding,” Roberts said. “Hunter is one of the best pitchers in baseball, definitely in the National League, and he throws with great intensity... Even in Andy's last at-bat against Connor Phillips, I thought it was excellent and he nearly hit his third home run. Seeing Andy perform at such a high level was great, especially when we needed it most.”

Sheehan delivered a strong performance on the mound, pitching seven innings in his major league debut. He matched his career-high with 10 strikeouts and was just one swing-and-miss shy of tying his personal best, having reached 19 this season.

Ten of Sheehan's swings and misses came from his slider. This was the second consecutive time he generated double-digit whiffs with that pitch. He feels he is starting to see the results of his efforts with more consistent execution of his pitches.

“I think this year I had to learn more about pitch sequencing because my pitch quality wasn't at the level I wanted,” Sheehan said. “So combining those things, and with my pitches working well today — it was a good mix.”

Sheehan allowed two hits and one walk, with only one additional Reds batter reaching base due to a throwing error by third baseman Alex Freeland.

“Not only is his fastball quick, but both his fastball and breaking balls have great bite,” Reds manager Terry Francona said. “I just felt he was at his best tonight.”

Aside from that error, the Dodgers' defense was another highlight, with Conforto and Teoscar Hernández making key plays earlier in the game to prevent Reds from getting on base.

Dodgers' Japanese star Shohei Ohtani went 0-for-3 today but reached base once by drawing a walk.

Overall, this is the kind of all-around baseball Los Angeles needs to play in the final stretch of the season to extend their lead in the NL West. Roberts has been preaching a team-first mentality in recent days, and as the stakes rise, the Dodgers have embraced it.

“I think everyone has accepted it at this point,” Conforto said. “In Dave's words, we're in the sprint now. We're fighting for the division title, and everything is about finishing first and winning every game possible.”