CINCINNATI — Just as well – the Dodgers probably were not in the mood to party anyway.
With their magic number down to one, they had a chance to clinch the National League West with a win on Wednesday night. But Blake Snell lasted just one inning, leaving the game with tightness in his left groin muscle, and the Dodgers went on to lose to the Cincinnati Reds, 6-2.
The Dodgers could still clinch their 13th division title in the past 14 years on Wednesday night if the San Diego Padres lose to the Colorado Rockies.
After getting seven scoreless innings from Tarik Skubal on Monday and Yoshinobu Yamamoto on Tuesday, the Dodgers sent out Snell on Wednesday expecting more of the same.
The left-hander gave up a two-out single in the first inning then picked the runner off, retiring the side on 19 pitches.
But he didn’t come back out for the second inning, pulled with the groin discomfort. It’s an injury Snell has some history with. He spent time on the injured list with similar injuries during the 2021, 2022 and 2024 seasons.
With Snell’s early exit, the Dodgers found themselves in an unplanned bullpen game – with another one likely planned for Thursday.
The parade of six relievers that followed Snell included Seth Halvorsen, who gave up a two-run home run to Elly De La Cruz in the third inning. The 391-foot drive into the right field seats was a modest blast by the standards De La Cruz has set against the Dodgers. He has hit a home run in five of the six games the Reds and Dodgers have played this season.
Freshly recalled from Triple-A, Bobby Miller was asked to soak up as many innings as he could. He gave up a solo home run to Dane Myers in the fifth inning and the Reds pulled away with two runs against Jack Dreyer in the seventh.
Before the game, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he was hoping to see his offense become more productive down the stretch because “in the postseason you just don’t get a whole lot of opportunities so you have to be able to cash in” when you do.
The offense didn’t get the message.
The Dodgers had eight baserunners in the first five innings (five walks, three hits) but could only convert one into a run on Will Smith’s RBI double in the third inning. They pushed across another run in the sixth but went 0 for 11 with runners in scoring position and left 12 runners on base in the game.
More to come on this story.