Dodgers Recap: Dodgers waste Ohtani’s brilliance as bullpen implodes in 9–6 loss to Phillies

CHAVEZ RAVINE — Shohei Ohtani gave Dodger Stadium a night to remember… and the bullpen made sure it became one we’d rather forget.

For five innings, Ohtani authored a two-way masterclass. On the mound, he no-hit the Phillies with five strikeouts and a single walk on just 68 pitches, carving through a first-place lineup like it was April tune-up baseball. At the plate, he later blasted home run No. 50, becoming the first Dodger ever with back-to-back 50-homer seasons, a milestone that should have owned the headlines. Instead, the story turned into the same old stomach punch: a six-run sixth inning against the bullpen, more late messes, and a three-run game-winner surrendered in the ninth. Final: Phillies 9, Dodgers 6.

And it never should’ve gotten there.

Ohtani sets the stage, the bullpen tears it down

The Dodgers did everything you ask of a contender early. They scratched first and added on. In the second, Alex Call opened the scoring with a solo shot, then Kiké Hernández turned a 1–0 lead into 3–0 with a two-run homer. In the fourth, Kiké tacked on a sacrifice fly to make it 4–0, and with Ohtani in full command—ten outs in a row at one point—the Blue looked poised to bank a statement win against a 90-win club.

Then came the sixth.

With Ohtani moving from the mound to DH as planned, Justin Wrobleski took the ball and immediately faced traffic: single by Rafael Marchán, single by Harrison Bader, single by Kyle Schwarber. Bryce Harper ripped a two-run double, and suddenly the shutout was gone, the lead cut to 4–2, and the tying runs were still out there. Brandon Marsh followed by launching a three-run homer to right-center, turning a comfortable cushion into a 5–4 deficit in the space of five batters. After a flyout, Edgardo Henriquez entered and promptly gave up a solo shot to Max Kepler. Six runs in a blink. 4–0 became 6–4, just like that.

That inning alone would be enough to sour a night, but the Dodgers still clawed back, because that’s what this team does when its starters put them in position.

The fightback—then a gut punch

Ohtani, denied perfection on the mound by the pitch count, decided to keep writing the script at the plate. In the eighth, he crushed No. 50 to right to pull the Dodgers within one. Teoscar Hernández doubled, Freddie Freeman walked, and Tommy Edman lined a single to load the bases for Alex Call, who delivered a game-tying sacrifice fly. 6–6 heading to the ninth, momentum back in Chavez Ravine, the place rumbling.

And then: another crater.

Blake Treinen got two quick outs. It looked like we were headed to the bottom of the ninth tied. Instead, Weston Wilson doubled, the Dodgers issued an intentional walk to Bryson Stott, and Treinen fell behind Rafael Marchán—a light-hitting backup who’s hovered around the Mendoza Line most of the year—and left a pitch where it could be punished. Marchán didn’t miss: a three-run homer to right. Ballgame. Phillies 9, Dodgers 6. The ninth-inning script we’ve seen too often the last two weeks played again.

“Unacceptable” isn’t hyperbole. It’s the only word.

What was squandered

It can’t be overstated how thoroughly the bullpen blotted out what should’ve been a historic Dodgers celebration. Ohtani didn’t just reach 50; he did it while no-hitting the Phillies for five frames. He went 2-for-5 with the homer and a sharp single, and on the mound he was as efficient as he’s been all month: 5.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 5 K, 1 BB. The plan was always for five innings as he tunes up for October, and he delivered exactly what you want: dominance without the stress pitches.

The lineup did its part, too. Kiké Hernández drove in three (the early two-run shot and the sac fly), Call added two RBIs (the second-inning solo and the game-tying eighth-inning sac fly), Edman and Pages logged two hits apiece, and the club went 1-for-3 with RISP—limited chances, but they capitalized when they had them. This wasn’t a case of offensive sleepwalking.

Meanwhile, the Phillies were ruthlessly efficient: 4-for-4 with RISP and just one left on base all night. That’s what happens when free baserunners meet center-cut pitches. Wrobleski wore the blown save. Henriquez was tagged for a solo shot. Treinen took the loss, now 1–6 with a 4.70 ERA, undone by a two-out double and a three-run swing to a hitter the Dodgers simply cannot let beat them in that spot.

The bigger problem

We can dissect pitch selection, execution, and matchups all we want, but the pattern is the problem. Too many nights, the bullpen is undoing excellent starting pitching. This isn’t about one reliever; it’s the group’s have-a-night roulette that keeps landing on chaos at exactly the wrong time. You can’t be a serious October team if your relievers are consistently turning quality starts into coin flips. Not against lineups like the Phillies’. Not with the calendar reading mid-September. Not when your MVP is doing unprecedented things for this franchise.

The frustration is amplified because the rotation has been laying a foundation. Ohtani’s five hitless, Kershaw’s grinding, Glasnow logging quality starts, Snell attacking the zone—these are efforts that should stack wins. Instead, we’re re-living the worst version of 2022-23 bullpen drama down the stretch.

Bottom line

Celebrate the milestone, because 50 again is special and Ohtani just did something no Dodger has ever done. But don’t let the moment distract from the urgency: the pen can’t keep doing this to the starters. Fix the sixth. Lock down the ninth. Get the ball to October with leads intact. Otherwise, nights like this will define the season for the wrong reasons—and that would be the real blot on an historic year.

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