The Cincinnati Reds can’t seem to not beat themselves and on Tuesday night in Los Angeles they got in their own way again.

A misplay in the 6th inning led to a 4-run inning for the Dodgers that basically put the game out of reach and the home team picked up a second win in a row over Cincinnati.

The Reds didn’t waste much time grabbing an early lead. Spencer Steer led off the game with a double and came in to score on a groundout by Miguel Andujar.

Cincinnati’s lead didn’t last long, though. After Mookie Betts walked, Freddie Freeman doubled into shallow left.

Betts went 1st-to-3rd, but when Austin Hays attempted to throw the ball to second it went well past the bag and Betts scored easily on the error to tie the game up.

That’s where the score stayed until the bottom of the 4th inning when a leadoff double by Teoscar Hernandez led to a run on a sacrifice fly to put the Dodgers up 2-1.

The Reds would go quietly in the 5th and so would Los Angeles.

It was the 6th inning that was the turning point in the game.

Matt McLain and Spencer Steer had back-to-back singles to start the inning.

That brought Noelvi Marte to the plate, who has been tearing the cover off of the ball of late. He attempted to bunt on the first pitch he saw and popped up to the pitcher, who was able to turn and throw a strike to second to double off McLain. A shallow fly out to left field would end the Reds half of the inning.

Will Smith led off the bottom of the inning with a home run off of Nick Martinez to extend the Dodgers lead to 3-1. After getting a ground out, Martinez would give up a double to Andy Pages.

That was the last batter he faced as Cincinnati went to the bullpen to bring in Brent Suter. He would get a grounder for a force out at third base before then giving up a single.

Miguel Rojas hit a fly ball to the warning track in center, but Noelvi Marte who was making his first start in center field in his life, got turned around and had the ball fall in for a 2-run double.

Shohei Ohtani followed up with a single to cap off a 4-run inning that made it 6-1.

The Reds would get two of those runs back in the 7th when Austin Hays followed a leadoff walk from Miguel Andujar with a 2-run home run.

Cincinnati’s next three batters – two of them pinch hitters – would strike out. In the 8th inning they would get a single from Marte but he would be stranded at first base.

During the 9th inning it was more of that as they got a single from Hays but saw the game end on a double play as the Dodgers held on for a 6-3 win.

Key Moment of the Game

Noelvi Marte’s non-catch in the 6th inning, which would have ended the inning, and instead led to four runs.

Notes Worth Noting

Noelvi Marte has never once gotten down a bunt since joining the Cincinnati Reds organization. Not as a minor leaguer. Not as a big leaguer.

Do with that information what you will.

The top five hitters in the Reds lineup went 6-19 with a walk. The bottom four hitters went 1-13 without a walk.

Cincinnati was only charged with one error, but they played a sloppy game. Marte getting turned around on a ball that every center fielder in baseball catches wasn’t an error because he didn’t touch the ball.

Matt McLain getting doubled off on a pop up bunt in which he wasn’t running on the pitch.

Maybe the Dodgers still win, but the Reds certainly helped them out a whole lot.

The Mets had a walk-off win, leaving the Reds 3.5 games back of the final wild card spot.

Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds

Cincinnati Reds vs Los Angeles Dodgers

Wednesday August 27th, 8:40pm ET

Nick Lodolo (8-6, 3.05 ERA) vs Shohei Ohtani (0-1, 4.61 ERA)