(Photo credit: Kiyoshi Mio)

With a chance to clinch their 13th division title in 14 straight playoff seasons, the Los Angeles Dodgers will start a pitcher who threw a no-hitter in his most recent start on the mound he will be on Wednesday night in Cincinnati.

Left-hander Blake Snell (4-1, 1.91 ERA) will return to Great American Ball Park, where he no-hit the Cincinnati Reds on Aug. 2, 2024, as a member of the San Francisco Giants. Now with the Dodgers, the veteran southpaw will look to create that magic again as Los Angeles positions itself for a deep postseason run.

That night in 2024, Snell struck out 11 and walked three in San Francisco's 3-0 win, which concluded when Elly De La Cruz flied out to right-center. Snell will face Cincinnati for the first time since he started Game 1 of the National League wild-card series last season, holding Cincinnati to two runs and four hits over seven innings of a 10-5 win for host Los Angeles. Snell struck out nine and walked one.

The two-time Cy Young Award winner has completed at least five innings and hasn't allowed more than one earned run in each of his six starts since his return from May arthroscopic surgery, which removed loose bodies in his left elbow. He has allowed a total of just four runs and has 46 strikeouts across 34 2/3 innings and has a 4-0 record and 1.04 ERA since then.

The 33-year-old veteran struck out eight, walked two and allowed four hits and one run over 5 2/3 innings in his most recent start, a 6-2 victory last Friday against the Miami Marlins.

'I think I can be way better,' Snell said. 'I think it's going good because just pitching in this league so much, I understand hitters, and I'm starting to adjust quicker, which I'm getting excited about. I go out there with a plan and being able to adjust and get quick outs off of that, or get ahead to get strikeouts. It's starting to get quicker, which I'm extremely happy about.'

The Dodgers (92-59) have won all five meetings with the Reds this season and are trying to catch the Milwaukee Brewers (94-57) for the best overall record in the major leagues this season.

Also, a Dodgers win or a San Diego Padres loss on Wednesday would clinch the fifth straight NL West title for the Dodgers, who have champagne waiting for them outside the visitors' clubhouse in Cincinnati.

The mood is much different for the Reds (70-81), who lost 4-0 to the Dodgers on Tuesday following a 4-1 loss in the opener of a four-game series on Monday. Tuesday's shutout was the Reds' 17th of the season. Cincinnati has dropped seven of its past eight games to fall to a season-low 11 games below .500.

The Reds on Wednesday will send a left-hander of their own to the mound in Andrew Abbott (6-11, 4.78 ERA), making his career-high 31st start of the season. It has been a volatile campaign for the 27-year-old Abbott, who has given up 24 home runs and has only 11 quality starts.

Abbott is coming off a nightmarish outing against the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday. He was tagged for eight runs (seven earned) on nine hits in just two innings during a 20-0 blowout loss.

'The only good thing I did was throw strikes, but I was in the zone too much,' Abbott said. 'I let the team down by getting yanked in the second after such a bad start. That didn't feel good.'

De La Cruz had two of Cincinnati's three hits on Tuesday and has an MLB-leading 22-game on-base streak.

--Field Level Media