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.
“Sometimes you look back and try to understand what’s going on. You try to pinch yourself when it’s not going well,” said Blake Treinen, who gave up the decisive homer in the ninth inning. “A lot of us have had our moments this year. Sometimes there’s no words, no reasons to describe it. I know it’s frustrating to the fans. I mean, I can promise you from the bottom of my heart we’re trying our darnedest every single night. There’s nothing we haven’t done, there’s no stone we haven’t unturned. It’s not an effort thing. It’s not a preparation thing.
“It is literally just sometimes things aren’t working and I wish for their sake, for our team, our organization, our ownership that I’m better in those spots. I know that’s in the heart of my teammates too. Sometimes you just don’t have an answer. You just have to find something to cling to and keep plugging away every day. Re-set your body, re-set your body and try to do the job you’re called to do tomorrow. But obviously it’s been a frustrating stretch.”
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).
But 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.
“I felt like everything went according to the plan this outing,” Ohtani said through his interpreter.
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.
“He wasn’t gonna go back out,” Roberts said. “We’ve been very steadfast in every situation as far as inning for his usage – from one inning to two to three to four to five. We haven’t deviated from that. So I was trying to get his pulse for going forward, where he’s at, continuing to go to the sixth inning (in potential postseason starts). And he says, ‘Feel okay.’ That was good.
“But I’m not gonna have a plan for five innings (going into the game) and then he pitches well and say, ‘Okay, now you’re gonna go for six innings.’ He’s too important. And if something happens, then that’s on me for changing it, and we haven’t done that all year. So I’m not gonna do that right now. I would’ve loved to have had him go out there. But if our conversation was (before the game), ‘If he’s efficient, he can go to the sixth inning,’ that’s a different conversation. But it was a hard five innings.”
Roberts made it clear he was not about to deviate from the plan laid out in meetings among Ohtani, the front office, medical staff and Ohtani’s agent, Nez Balelo.
“It’s a plan that we’ve all talked about and laid out,” he said.
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.
“As a player, I do want to pitch as long as possible. But I also understand and respect the decision that the front office and the manager makes,” Ohtani said. “Ultimately, that’s what a player is supposed to do, is to make sure that you fulfill the given role that you’re assigned. But again, as a player, you always want to pitch as long as possible.”
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 homer by Marsh.
Boos rained down from frustrated fans as Roberts came out to pull Wrobleski. Henriquez came in at that point and gave up a solo home run to Max Kepler before escaping the inning.
“It is what it is. I didn’t throw the ball well,” Wrobleski said. “My job is to go out there and put up zeros, and I did not do that today.”
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.
In the top of the ninth, Treinen got two quick outs on five pitches before giving up a double to Weston Wilson. Working carefully to Bryson Stott, he fell behind 3-and-0 and then intentionally walked him.
He fell behind again, 3-and-1, to Phillies backup catcher Rafael Marchan and threw a cutter down and in. 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.
“They’re lacking confidence,” Roberts said. “They all wanna pitch well, they all want the opportunities, and they’re not making good pitches when they need to, a little careful at times.
“For me, I believe in the talent. But right now they just don’t have the confidence that they need to have to be consistent. And so when you’re facing a team like this that’s won a division, that’s gonna grind at-bats, you’ve gotta continue to make good pitches. And when you don’t, they’re gonna capitalize.”