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Yoshinobu Yamamoto struck out a postseason-high nine batters while pitching into the seventh frame, and the Los Angeles Dodgers pulled away with a big sixth inning to beat the Reds team by an 8-4 score on Wednesday night, advancing to the National League Division Series.

The defending World Series champion Los Angeles team advanced to their 20th NLDS appearance – thirteenth consecutive – in franchise history and will take on the Phillies beginning Saturday in Philadelphia. The clubs last met in the postseason in two thousand nine, when the Philadelphia defeated the Dodgers in the NL Championship Series for the second straight year.

“I believe we can take it all,” Betts remarked. “We’ve got to keep throw well, get clutch hits and play defense, and we’ll be fine.”

After hitting a team record-tying five homers in a 10-5 win in the NL wildcard series opener on the previous day, the Dodgers sent the Reds home by playing small ball and recording thirteen hits – two fewer than in Game 1. Mookie Betts collected four hits with three doubles, tying Jim Gilliam in Game 4 of the 1953 World Series for the most doubles in a single postseason game in franchise history.

“I think what we’re seeing is effective pitching, using the whole field, fighting and avoiding over-swinging,” manager Dave Roberts said. “I believe we are having team at-bats.”

After the Reds took a 2-0 lead in the opening inning, Yamamoto retired the next 13 batters.

The Dodgers rallied to take a 3-2 lead before the imported ace wiggled his way out of a tight spot in the sixth. The Cincinnati filled the bases with no outs on consecutive singles by TJ Friedl, Steer and ex-Los Angeles player Lux.

Hays grounded into a fielder’s choice to shortstop and the right fielder threw to the plate, where catcher Ben Rortvedt stomped on the plate to get Friedl. Yamamoto then struck out Sal Stewart and De La Cruz on back-to-back swinging strikeouts to halt the rally.

“I was just trying to empty the tank out there,” Yamamoto expressed through a translator.

Amid waving blue towels, the starter exited to a standing ovation from the crowd of 50,465.

“After recording the first two outs, I think he sensed an opportunity right there and was able to attack to get the last out,” the veteran noted.

The ace recorded the first two outs of the seventh before leaving to a another round of cheers. The right-hander allowed two earned runs, four hits and issued two walks on a career-high 113 pitches. It was the most pitches by a Los Angeles pitcher in the postseason since Walker Buehler threw 117 in the fifth game of the 2019 NLDS.

For the second straight night, the fans’ mood soured in the eighth. Reliever Emmet Sheehan surrendered two runs, cutting the lead to 8-4, before the Reds lineup put the potential tying run to the batter’s box against Alex Vesia. He got Friedl on a called third strike to end the inning in which Sheehan and Vesia threw 41 pitches total. On Tuesday, three bullpen arms needed 59 pitches to record three outs in the eighth.

Rookie Roki Sasaki worked the ninth inning, recording three outs, including striking out two batters on fastballs reaching 101 mph.

The Los Angeles left men on base in the first five frames, but they went ahead 3-2 on Kiké Hernández’s RBI double and Rojas’ RBI single that hit the first-base line to chase Littell.

Shohei Ohtani’s RBI single leading off the sixth snapped an hitless streak against Reds reliever Nick Martinez. The leadoff man contributed an run-scoring double along the line and Hernández had a two-run double that pushed the advantage to seven to two.

Yamamoto could have had a scoreless first but Hernández mishandled a Hays’ fly ball that would have been the third out. Hernández hugged Yamamoto in the dugout after the Japanese star exited the contest.

The rookie’s two-run RBI single with two away eluded a diving Freddie Freeman at first for a two-run lead. It was the Reds’ initial advantage in a playoff game since the third game of the 2012 NLDS against the Giants.