The loss dropped the Reds to 56-52, and they'll need to win the July 30 series finale against the Dodgers to avoid their first sweep of the season. Cincinnati is scheduled to send starter Nick Martinez (9-9, 4.69 ERA) to the mound against probable Dodgers starter, Shohei Ohtani (0-0, 1.50 ERA).

Burns is every bit as advertised to begin his career for the Reds. Cincinnati selected Burns with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft out of Wake Forest. He had 190 strikeouts in 100 innings in his final season with the Demon Deacons.

What was more important, however, was that they didn’t lose their two-way star. In the Dodgers’ 5-2 defeat to the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park, Shohei Ohtani left the mound alongside a trainer in the fourth inning with what the team later said was only cramping — a worrying scene in the moment,