BOSTON, MA — It was a strange and sentimental Sunday afternoon at Fenway Park. Former Dodger hero Walker Buehler made his first career start against Los Angeles, and though the game began with a rain delay, it ended with Buehler holding the edge as the Red Sox took the rubber match of the weekend series, 4–3.
The Dodgers had chances. Plenty of them. Seven hits! Nine walks!! But a 1-for-11 showing with runners in scoring position and a inning-ending double play in the eighth turned this into a frustrating loss.
Dustin May took the mound for L.A. and worked a clean first inning after giving up an early sac fly to Trevor Story, which gave Boston a 1–0 lead. That came after Roman Anthony was hit by a pitch and advanced to third on a single by Jarren Duran. The run felt avoidable—an omen for the kind of day it would be.
In the third, the Dodgers got Buehler on the ropes. Miguel Rojas worked a walk, then Shohei Ohtani singled. A walk to Teoscar Hernández loaded the bases, and Freddie Freeman followed with a bases-loaded walk to tie the game. But Andy Pages flied out sharply to right to end the inning with the bases still full.
Michael Conforto gave L.A. a brief lead in the fourth, hammering a solo homer to dead center—his ninth of the season and easily his biggest swing in a Dodgers uniform to date. Rojas walked again and stole second, setting the table for Mookie Betts, who delivered with an RBI single up the middle. Just like that, it was 3–1, Dodgers.
But the lead didn’t last. May struggled to finish hitters all game and finally cracked in the fifth. Abraham Toro singled, and Roman Anthony followed with a triple to Mookie Betts at short—yes, you read that correctly. Anthony banged one off the Monster and it bounced all the way back to Betts in short left. With the lead cut to one, Alex Bregman stepped in and launched a go-ahead two-run homer into the left field seats. It was 4–3, and that would be the final score.
May exited after five innings, tagged for four runs on five hits with five strikeouts. The Dodgers bullpen—Jack Dreyer and Justin Wrobleski—combined for three solid innings to keep the deficit at one.
In the top of the sixth, Miguel Rojas doubled to lead off, but the Dodgers couldn’t bring him home. The biggest gut punch came in the eighth. Down 4–3, Rojas walked, and Betts followed with another walk to put two on with nobody out. That brought Ohtani to the plate, who flied out to left.
Then came the turning point. Teoscar Hernández hit a hot shot liner to second baseman Ceddanne Rafaela, who alertly doubled off pinch-runner Hyeseong Kim at second. The Red Sox challenged the play and won the review. Rally over.
In the ninth, the Dodgers went down in order against Jordan Hicks, with Freddie Freeman striking out and Pages and Edman both grounding out.
Despite the loss, Michael Conforto had his best day as a Dodger, going 3-for-4 with a homer and two doubles. Rojas also reached base four times, continuing a strong stretch at the plate. But the rest of the offense didn’t do enough to capitalize, leaving 12 men on base.
The Dodgers got solid work from their bullpen again—just one walk and one hit allowed over three scoreless innings—but the offense couldn’t break through against Boston’s pen. Former Dodger Aroldis Chapman and Hicks combined for the final five outs, slamming the door.
Up Next
The Dodgers (61–44) head to Cincinnati for a three-game set against the Reds. They’ll be eager to get back in the win column and find some consistency from an offense that’s been feast-or-famine of late.
And for Buehler, it was no doubt a bittersweet moment—beating the team he once led to a World Series title in 2020 and 2024, and doing so with a reminder that in baseball, there are rarely clean breakups.
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