LOS ANGELES (AP) — At age 25, Anthony DeSclafini is the graybeard in the Cincinnati Reds all-rookie rotation. Because of his poise and control on the mound, manager Bryan Price holds him up as an example for David Holmberg, Raisel Iglesias, Keyvius Sampson and John Lamb.

“Disco’s like the veteran rookie, if there is such a thing,” Price said Sunday after DeSclafini’s 2-1 loss to Zack Greinke and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

“I mean, he’s not really a veteran, but he handles himself like one. He’s not as vulnerable as the other guys who get emotional in the middle innings. It never feels like when he’s on the mound that he’s in the middle of a crisis.”

DeSclafani (7-8) allowed two runs and six hits in six innings and struck out six. The right-hander was 2-0 with a 2.60 ERA in his previous eight road starts following back-to-back losses in Atlanta and Pittsburgh on May 1 and 7.

“He’s had some games where he hasn’t pitched very well, but at no point in time have I felt like he didn’t have control of his environment,” Price said. “That’s important — and something that will be key for the other four to look at — how Disco handles himself in those high-leverage, high-pressure situations. He just keeps coming after you.”

It was Cincinnati’s 18th consecutive game with a rookie starting pitcher — the longest such streak by any club since September 1997, when St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa used a rookie starter in 19 straight games.

“I’m always mentally in the game, but you know you’ve got to be extra sharp against Greinke because there’s no room for error,” said DeSclafini, who won his big league debut at Dodger Stadium on May 14, 2014 with the Miami Marlins.

In all, eight rookie pitchers have started a combined 64 games for the Reds this season, the most by their rotation since 2001 (77).

“Disco was terrific,” Price said. “A game like that under different circumstances, you’ve got a chance to win. He didn’t today because Greinke was a little bit better and we weren’t able to get anything going. You’ve got to take advantage of your opportunities. And if Greinke’s pitching well, there’s going to be limited opportunities.”

DeSclafani matched zeros with Greinke through four innings before the Reds scratched out a run on Billy Hamilton’s sacrifice fly. Marlon Byrd led off the fifth with a single, and Tucker Barnhart followed with a sinking line drive to right field that got past a diving Yasiel Puig for a double.

But the NL West-leading Dodgers responded in the bottom half with their fourth set of back-to-back homers this season. Greinke’s drive to left-center landed in almost the exact same spot that Pederson’s 23rd did one pitch earlier.

“I gave it everything I had. I tried mixing it up, but Pederson and Greinke put two good swings on the ball and it ended up costing us the game,” DeSclafani said. “So it’s on me, but I knew I had to be pretty good today, throwing against Greinke.”

The Dodgers lead the NL with 146 home runs, 12 more than they had all of last season with 44 games still remaining.

Greinke (13-2) allowed a run on six hits, struck out eight and walked one. The right-hander is 8-0 with a 1.16 ERA over his last 11 starts.

The Dodgers are 113-54 in 167 combined starts by Greinke and Clayton Kershaw during their three seasons as teammates. The rest of the time, the club has gone 140-135. Greinke is 45-14 with a 2.34 ERA in 84 starts since signing with the Dodgers as a free agent in December 2012.

Kenley Jansen got four outs for his 24th save in 25 chances and 130th of his career — just hours after becoming a father for the second time.

Kaden Isaiah Jansen checked in at 8 pounds, 9 ounces and 19.5 inches at 9:58 a.m. local time, giving dad enough time to get to the ballpark and overtake Jeff Shaw for second place on the Dodgers’ all-time saves list behind Eric Gagne (161).

UP NEXT

Reds: RHP Iglesias (3-4) will face Kansas City on Tuesday night in the opener of a 10-game homestand, which includes a makeup contest against Detroit that was rescheduled from a June 18 rainout. Iglesias is coming off his first big league road victory, a 7-3 decision against San Diego.

Dodgers: Kershaw (10-6) takes the ball Tuesday night at Oakland in the opener of an eight-game road trip. The reigning NL MVP and three-time Cy Young Award winner is 5-0 with an 0.82 ERA over his last seven starts, which came after losing three straight outings for the first time in his career. He has given up just one home run in 55 innings during this stretch — the one Pittsburgh’s Gregory Polanco hit on Kershaw’s first pitch of the game on Aug. 7 to end his 37-inning scoreless streak.

 

SATURDAY’S GAME

Dodgers 8, Reds 3

Cincinnati AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Phillips 2b 4 1 1 0 0 1 .288

Suarez ss 4 0 0 0 0 2 .303

Votto 1b 4 1 2 1 0 0 .307

Frazier 3b 3 1 2 2 1 0 .262

Byrd rf 4 0 0 0 0 0 .238

De Jesus Jr. lf 3 0 0 0 1 1 .259

B.Pena c 4 0 1 0 0 0 .275

Holmberg p 1 0 0 0 0 0 .167

Villarreal p 1 0 0 0 0 1 .000

a-Bruce ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .242

Mattheus p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —

Ju.Diaz p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —

c-Schumaker ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .209

B.Hamilton cf 3 0 1 0 0 0 .229

Totals 33 3 7 3 2 5

 

Los Angeles AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

J.Rollins ss 4 1 2 1 1 1 .227

K.Hernandez 2b 5 1 1 3 0 0 .301

A.Gonzalez 1b 4 1 2 1 0 0 .294

Ju.Turner 3b 4 1 1 1 0 0 .326

Puig rf 3 2 2 1 1 0 .248

C.Crawford lf 2 1 2 0 2 0 .289

Ellis c 3 1 1 0 1 1 .210

Pederson cf 4 0 0 1 0 0 .217

B.Anderson p 1 0 0 0 0 0 .059

Y.Garcia p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —

b-Guerrero ph 1 0 1 0 0 0 .240

Hatcher p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —

Totals 31 8 12 8 5 2

 

Cincinnati 201 000 000 — 3 7 1

Los Angeles 052 100 00x — 8 12 1

 

a-grounded into a double play for Villarreal in the 6th. b-singled for Y.Garcia in the 8th. c-grounded out for Ju.Diaz in the 9th.

E—Frazier (14), Ju.Turner (8). LOB—Cincinnati 5, Los Angeles 6. 2B—Votto (25). HR—Frazier (29), off B.Anderson; Puig (10), off Holmberg; K.Hernandez (6), off Holmberg; Ju.Turner (14), off Holmberg; A.Gonzalez (24), off Villarreal. RBIs—Votto (58), Frazier 2 (73), J.Rollins (36), K.Hernandez 3 (18), A.Gonzalez (73), Ju.Turner (47), Puig (35), Pederson (46). SB—Puig (2). S—B.Anderson 2.

Runners left in scoring position—Cincinnati 3 (Byrd 2, Phillips); Los Angeles 4 (Ju.Turner, J.Rollins 2, Ellis). RISP—Cincinnati 0 for 3; Los Angeles 4 for 9.

GIDP—Bruce, K.Hernandez, Ju.Turner, Ellis.

DP—Cincinnati 3 (Suarez, Phillips, Votto), (Phillips, Suarez, Votto), (Suarez, Phillips, Votto); Los Angeles 2 (A.Gonzalez, J.Rollins, A.Gonzalez), (K.Hernandez, A.Gonzalez).

Cincinnati IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA

Holmberg L, 1-2 2 5 7 7 4 0 64 5.95

Villarreal 3 3 1 1 0 2 46 3.41

Mattheus 2 3 0 0 0 0 24 4.21

Ju.Diaz 1 1 0 0 1 0 15 4.34

Los Angeles IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA

B.Anderson W, 7-7 6 6 3 3 2 3 103 3.48

Y.Garcia 2 1 0 0 0 1 20 3.50

Hatcher 1 0 0 0 0 1 10 6.05

Holmberg pitched to 3 batters in the 3rd.

Inherited runners-scored—Villarreal 2-1. WP—Holmberg.

Umpires—Home, Dana DeMuth; First, Mike Estabrook; Second, Ed Hickox; Third, Paul Nauert.

T—2:48. A—46,807 (56,000).

 

SUNDAY’S GAME

Dodgers 5, Reds 3

Cincinnati AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Phillips 2b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .285

Suarez ss 4 0 0 0 0 1 .296

Votto 1b 3 0 2 0 1 1 .310

Frazier 3b 4 0 0 0 0 2 .260

Bruce rf 4 0 1 0 0 3 .242

Byrd lf 4 1 2 0 0 1 .241

Barnhart c 3 0 1 0 1 0 .260

DeSclafani p 2 0 0 0 0 2 .167

a-Schumaker ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .208

M.Parra p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —

Hoover p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —

B.Hamilton cf 2 0 0 1 0 0 .228

Totals 31 1 6 1 2 10

 

Los Angeles AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

J.Rollins ss 4 0 1 0 0 1 .227

K.Hernandez 2b 4 0 1 0 0 2 .300

A.Gonzalez 1b 3 0 0 0 1 1 .292

Ju.Turner 3b 4 0 0 0 0 1 .321

Ethier lf 3 0 1 0 0 1 .289

Puig rf 3 0 1 0 0 1 .249

Grandal c 2 0 1 0 1 0 .283

Pederson cf 3 1 1 1 0 2 .218

Greinke p 1 1 1 1 0 0 .226

b-Guerrero ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .239

Baez p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —

Howell p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —

Jansen p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —

Totals 28 2 7 2 2 10

 

Cincinnati 000 010 000 — 1 6 0

Los Angeles 000 020 00x — 2 7 0

 

a-lined out for DeSclafani in the 7th. b-struck out for Greinke in the 7th.

LOB—Cincinnati 6, Los Angeles 5. 2B—Votto (26), Byrd (13), Barnhart (6). HR—Pederson (23), off DeSclafani; Greinke (2), off DeSclafani. RBIs—B.Hamilton (28), Pederson (47), Greinke (3). S—Greinke. SF—B.Hamilton.

Runners left in scoring position—Cincinnati 3 (Frazier, Phillips, B.Hamilton); Los Angeles 2 (J.Rollins, Puig). RISP—Cincinnati 0 for 5; Los Angeles 0 for 4.

Runners moved up—Ju.Turner. GIDP—Frazier, K.Hernandez.

DP—Cincinnati 1 (Suarez, Phillips, Votto); Los Angeles 1 (Ju.Turner, K.Hernandez, A.Gonzalez).

 

Cincinnati IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA

DeSclafani L, 7-8 6 6 2 2 2 6 86 3.72

M.Parra 1 1 0 0 0 2 15 3.38

Hoover 1 0 0 0 0 2 12 1.92

Los Angeles IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA

Greinke W, 13-2 7 6 1 1 1 8 107 1.58

Baez H, 8 2-3 0 0 0 0 0 14 2.43

Howell 0 0 0 0 1 0 6 1.59

Jansen S, 24-25 1 1-3 0 0 0 0 2 19 2.48

Howell pitched to 1 batter in the 8th.

Inherited runners-scored—Jansen 1-0.

Umpires—Home, Mike Estabrook; First, Ed Hickox; Second, Paul Nauert; Third, Dana DeMuth.

T—2:41. A—47,388 (56,000).