Monday was business as usual for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who beat the Cincinnati Reds 4-1 at Great American Ball Park.
It was a relatively easy victory for the Dodgers, who got seven shutout innings and nine strikeouts from Tarik Skubal in his first scoreless outing since July 18. The two-time Cy Young winner lowered his ERA to 2.70 in the process and picked up his tenth win of the season.
Los Angeles managed just three hits, but two of them left the yard. Kyle Tucker smashed a solo homer off Nick Lodolo in the top of the second to kick off the scoring, while Teoscar Hernandez extended the Dodgers' lead to 3-0 with a two-run bomb off Lodolo in the fourth.
Los Angeles added an insurance run with Enrique Hernandez's RBI single in the seventh. The Reds were held scoreless until the ninth, when Elly De La Cruz finally got them on the board with a solo shot.
The win was the 91st of the season for the Dodgers, clinching their 14th straight playoff berth. That ties the all-time MLB record held by the Atlanta Braves, who made 14 consecutive postseason appearances from 1991 to 2005.
With a nine-game lead in the NL West, Los Angeles will likely clinch the division later this week as well. After that, they'll take aim at their third straight World Series title.