Seventh wonder: Dodgers trounce Reds

CINCINNATI — If the Dodgers’ bats came alive in Sunday’s win, they were downright perky on Monday. With seven home runs, including four slugged during the top of the fifth inning, Los Angeles took a wild 18-9 victory over the Reds to gain a split of their four-game series.

Adrian Gonzalez did the most damage with three homers and a career-high eight RBIs, including a three-run shot in the first inning, a solo homer in the six-run fifth and another three-run homer in the seventh. The win helped inch the Dodgers’ lead in the National League West standings to one game over the idle Giants ahead of the rivals’ three-game series that opens on Tuesday.

The Dodgers jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the third inning with nine hits against Reds starter Homer Bailey, who was chased after 2 1/3 innings. But Cincinnati — aided by Joey Votto’s three-RBI day where he was a homer away from the cycle — worked its way back. Its three runs in the third inning cut Scott Kazmir’s day short and added another run in the fourth inning to make it a 6-5 game.

In the top of the fifth, the Dodgers’ offense erupted and blew the game open against reliever Josh Smith. Rookies Andrew Toles hit a two-run homer and Rob Segedin made it back-to-back long balls — both the first of their careers — and Corey Seager added a two-run shot. With Smith out, Gonzalez smoked a first-pitch homer against Jumbo Diaz to reopen a large gap that the Reds could not close a second time. Gonzalez’s …

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