LOS ANGELES – Bronson Arroyo earned his 100th career victory, Joey Votto homered and drove in three runs and the NL Central-leading Cincinnati Reds beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-2 Sunday.
The Reds took two of three in the series and held their 3½-game division edge over St. Louis.
Arroyo (14-7) allowed two runs and seven hits in seven innings, striking out six and walking none. The right-hander came in 0-3 with a 5.56 ERA lifetime at Dodger Stadium.
Votto hit a tiebreaking homer in the sixth and added a two-run single in the ninth.
The win put Arroyo one shy of the career-high win total he established in 2008 and equaled last season. At one point, he fanned the heart of the Dodgers lineup — Andre Ethier, Matt Kemp, James Loney and Casey Blake — in succession after giving up a leadoff infield single to Ryan Theriot in the sixth. Kemp homered for Los Angeles' first run and A.J. Ellis added an RBI single.
Francisco Cordero pitched as perfect ninth for his 34th save in 40 attempts.
Clayton Kershaw (11-8) struck out 11, allowing three runs and five hits over seven innings. He threw a career-high 118 pitches.
Votto, who came in leading the NL with a .321 batting average, gave the Reds a 3-2 lead in the sixth when hit his career-high 29th homer. The solo shot broke a 1-all tie and was his first homer in 38 at-bats.
The Reds loaded the bases in the ninth against Jonathan Broxton, who fanned pinch-hitter Scott Rolen for the second out of the inning before Votto lined a 3-2 pitch to left field to increase his RBI total to 86, three shy of league leader Albert Pujols.
Brandon Phillips opened the game with a single against Kershaw, who has failed to pitch a 1-2-3 first inning in any of his 26 starts this season. The 22-year-old lefty walked Votto and Jonny Gomes with one out, then gave up a two-run single by Ryan Hanigan with two out.
The Dodgers, coming off their first four-homer game since opening day, struck back in the second when Kemp hit his 21st.
NOTES: Vin Scully's decision to return for an unprecedented 62nd season in the Dodgers' broadcast booth thrilled one of his close pals, fellow Hall of Fame broadcaster Marty Brennaman of the Reds. "I think 'poet laureate of baseball' would probably be as close to being accurate — relative to Vin Scully — as anything. And probably, that doesn't even do him justice," Brennaman said. "I can say unabashedly that he's been my idol. I'm envious of him because he has total recall about something that might have happened at Ebbets Field in 1952. I don't remember what happened yesterday." ... When Dodgers manager Joe Torre was asked if Scully's return was part of a package deal with him for next year, the former Angels TV analyst said: 'I'm not going to the booth. He likes to work alone." ... Torre gave a nice send-off to Lou Piniella on the day he managed his final game with the Cubs. "He was the same as a manager that he was as a hitter. I mean, he went berserk as a hitter — and I say that with love and respect," Torre said. "I think a lot of the antics — which don't go away, unfortunately, thanks to our friends on TV — distracts you from what basically he's all about. And that's being a winner."
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.