LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers’ bullpen has become the problem child at daycare, knocking down the blocks stacked up by other kids.
Shohei Ohtani pitched five hitless innings and hit his 50th home run of the season in the same game. He retired 15 of the 16 batters he faced before passing the no-hitter on to the Dodgers’ bullpen. It was not in good hands.
The Philadelphia Phillies scored six times in the sixth inning against rookie relievers Justin Wrobleski and Edgardo Henriquez and then three more times in the ninth after the Dodgers had rallied to tie the game. The result was a 9-6 victory over the Dodgers on Tuesday night.
The loss was matched by the San Diego Padres, leaving the Dodgers’ lead in the National League West at two games with 11 games left in the regular season. But back-to-back losses have dropped them 6½ games behind the Phillies for the No. 2 seed in the NL playoffs, all but saying goodbye to a first-round bye and sending them into the wild-card round for the first time since 2021 (when it was a single game, not a best-of-three series).
The first five innings Tuesday were a ringing endorsement for the Dodgers’ cautious approach to Ohtani’s rehab and return from a second Tommy John surgery. They essentially turned major-league games into a minor-league rehab assignment for Ohtani, making him an opener for a time and capping his outings at five innings – all aimed at getting him pitching the way he did Tuesday night on the cusp of the playoffs.
Ohtani allowed just one baserunner when he walked Bryce Harper with two outs in the first inning. He personally handled the Phillies’ hardest-hit ball off of him – a 103.5 mph ground ball back to the mound by Brandon Marsh that Ohtani turned into an out.
Ten of Ohtani’s first 31 pitches registered from 99.7 to 101.7 mph and he struck out five in his mandated five innings.
After retiring the Phillies in the top of the fifth, Ohtani was the leadoff hitter for the Dodgers in the bottom of the inning. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts could be seen having a conversation with Ohtani near the dugout railing as Ohtani donned his protective batting gear.
Whatever information was exchanged during that conversation, Ohtani did not take the mound in the sixth inning despite having thrown just 68 pitches. He had thrown as many as 87 in previous starts and had 10 days off between pitching starts this time.
It was the ninth time in his tenure as Dodgers manager that Roberts has pulled a pitcher with a no-hitter going in the fifth inning or later – the second time in eight days. Tyler Glasnow came out after seven hitless innings and 105 pitches against the Colorado Rockies.
The Dodgers had built a 4-0 lead in support of Ohtani on home runs by Alex Call (solo) and Kiké Hernandez (two-run). It all disappeared in the top of the sixth.
Wrobleski got the first batter he faced to ground out. That was the high point of his night. Five consecutive hits followed, including a two-run double by Bryce Harper and a three-run home run by Marsh.
Henriquez came in at that point and gave up a solo home run to Max Kepler before escaping the inning.
But Ohtani rallied the troops with a leadoff home run in the eighth inning, his 50th of the season. He joins Babe Ruth, Ken Griffey Jr., Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, and Alex Rodriguez as the only players in major-league history with back-to-back 50-homer seasons.
A Teoscar Hernandez double, a walk of Freddie Freeman and a Tommy Edman single loaded the bases with one out and Call tied the score with a sacrifice fly.
But veteran Blake Treinen gave up a three-run home run to Phillies backup catcher Rafael Marchan with two outs in the top of the ninth. Marchan’s 20th hit and second home run of the season hit the side of the bullpen gate down the right-field line and went out.
Dodgers relievers (including Anthony Banda who pitched as an opener for Emmet Sheehan on Monday) have given up 14 runs in 8⅓ innings over the first two games against the Phillies – a potential playoff opponent if the Dodgers make it out of the wild-card series.
More to come on this story.