(Sports Network) - Young right-hander Johnny Cueto gets a second crack at Los Angeles tonight when the Cincinnati Reds host the Dodgers in the opener of a three-game National League series at Great American Ball Park.

A 22-year-old Dominican, Cueto took a loss against the Dodgers in a May 21 outing in California, allowing seven hits and two earned runs in five innings of the Reds' 5-2 defeat.

He's won three of four starts since, however, allowing 26 hits and 13 earned runs in 23 innings.

Cueto is 4-2 in eight home starts with a 4.32 earned run average in 50 innings of work.

LA will hand the ball tonight to 23-year-old righty Chad Billingsley, who scattered four hits over seven scoreless innings the last time he faced the Reds, one day before Cueto's aforementioned loss.

The win lifted him to 1-1 in three career meetings with Cincinnati with a microscopic 0.68 ERA in 13 1/3 innings.

He's slumped in four overall starts since, going 0-2 with a pair of no- decisions, in which he's allowed 23 hits and 10 runs in 25 innings.

On Sunday in Detroit, Marcus Thames and Brandon Inge belted back-to-back homers in the sixth inning, and the Tigers held off a furious rally and edged the Dodgers, 5-4, to complete a three-game interleague sweep.

Russell Martin blasted a two-run home run for the reeling Dodgers, who have dropped five straight. Jeff Kent chipped in with a pinch-hit RBI single.

Clayton Kershaw, the seventh overall pick in the 2006 MLB draft, was pitching beautifully, allowing just two hits in four shutout inning before being forced from the game after a 47-minute rain delay.

Chan Ho Park (2-2) couldn't match Kershaw and was peppered for five runs on eight hits in just 1 1/3 innings to pick up the loss.

In Cincinnati, Josh Beckett combined with two other pitchers in a six-hit shutout as the Boston Red Sox closed out a three-game set against the Reds with a 9-0 win.

Homer Bailey (0-3) lost for his third consecutive start and saw his earned-run average balloon to 8.76 as he gave up five runs on four hits with three walks in just 2 1/3 innings of work for the Reds, who have dropped four of their last six. Joey Votto got three of the six hits.

The Dodgers have won four of their five meetings with the Reds this season and are 18-6 in the series since the start of the 2005 campaign.