That's a Good Cincinnati Ball Club

Mat Latos is always a tough.  Fact is he's one difficult starting pitcher to face.  That's a tough assignment for any team, especially after a short night and early morning arrival.  The Dodgers didn't look too lethargic, but after seeing them average 8+ runs per game over the past week, Dodger fans have been a bit spoiled, expecting a massive offensive output each night.

So the post all star break winning streak is over, but the confidence that most have in this team hasn't dissipated, even after ceding a game in the standings to Arizona.  Kershaw toes the rubber in tomorrow's action, and that makes many feel a lot better.

Aroldis Chapman's fastball sat between 98 and 103 MPH tonight (photo:Getty Images)

Yasiel Puig continues to impress and a showdown between the Dodger rookie and fellow Cuban Aroldis Chapman in the 9th would have been quite memorable, but it wasn't to be as the fireballing Red left-hander retired Carl Crawford on a scorching line out to left field with two men on base.  Pitch tracker recorded that last pitch to Crawford at 103 MPH.

Cincinnati has quite the formidable pitching staff and the Dodgers have their hands full for the next few days.  Their good mojo could quickly disappear with a loss tomorrow, so a win in Kershaw's start is really important for the Dodger's momentum to continue.

Zack Greinke took the loss , his first in 7 starts after 5 consecutive wins.  His stuff was decent and he made that mistake to Jay Bruce, a hanging curve that was deposited into the first row of the left field pavilion.  Sometimes the "W" doesn't come even when a pitcher has his pitches working for the most part.  Greinke mentioned on the post game interview that the Cincinnati first five hitters are "probably the best in the league," and there isn't a lot of room for error.  Essentially that was what happened to him tonight, he needed to pitch near perfect baseball to chalk up the win.

Red's shortstop Cesar Izturis turns a 4-6-3 double play in the 4th inning of last night's action (Getty Images)

This may have been a pre-view of post season play for the Dodgers.  Dusty Baker's club is good, in fact, they're real good, and they're playing their best ball of the season during this west coast swing.  The scary thought is that there are two ball clubs in the Central Division with even better records than the Reds.

So the boys get a good night's rest, adjust from the jet lag and go out there tomorrow with their ace on the mound against two time no-hit artist Homer Bailey.  Everything is set up for a positive result on Friday.  We'll see if all goes according to plan.