Dodgers 6, D-backs 5: Ohtani & Freeman provide a lead and the pitching staff hangs on for dear life

Chad Moriyama 06/02/2026 Game Recaps Leave A Comment

Unlike yesterday, the Dodgers rushed out to a lead and then added insurance on top of that, which proved important as the Diamondbacks had a rally going in just about every inning. Despite struggling, the pen clung to the lead and ended up getting the job done in a 6-5 victory.

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The Dodgers got off to a great start against Michael Soroka, as Shohei Ohtani led off with a double to right and Freddie Freeman hit his ninth homer of the year to make it 2-0 in the 1st.

They got to him in the 2nd again, as one-out singles from Dalton Rushing and Freeman set the table for Ohtani, who tripled to right to score a pair and make it 4-0 Dodgers.

Unfortunately, Soroka settled from there, as he got back-to-back pop-outs to escape the 2nd as a part of retiring 10 in a row. Freeman broke that streak with a two-out single in the 5th and got to second on a passed ball, but he retired the next four to get him through the 6th.

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On the other side was Eric Lauer fighting for his rotation life, and he started nicely with a clean 1st. He had to work around a lead-off walk and two-out single in the 2nd, then finally relented in the 3rd when Corbin Carroll somehow hit a homer off the top of the wall in left to cut the lead to 4-1 Dodgers.

After giving up just a one-out single in the 4th, the 5th started with back-to-back singles to corner things up. Lauer gave up a sac fly to make it 4-2 and then got a strikeout after a disengagement violation put the other runner into scoring position.

One out from getting a win, Dave Roberts turned to Blake Treinen, who started with a walk but got the final out of the 5th with the lead intact on a sliding play from Ryan Ward.

Lauer … did his job, really: 4.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 70 Pitches.

Next up was Edgardo Henriquez in the 6th, who gave up a lead-off single and saw a second batter reach with one-out after Max Muncy threw late to second on a routine groundball.

But thanks in part to his 104 MPH fastball, he got the last two of the 6th to escape the jam.

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Against the D-backs pen in the 7th, the Dodgers added much-needed insurance, as Dalton Rushing hit a lead-off double, Alex Freeland sac bunted him to third, Shohei was intentionally walked, and Andy Pages hit a sac fly to left to plate one.

The free pass to Ohtani came back to bite them when Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts came up with back-to-back singles to plate another run and make it 6-2 Dodgers.

They did end up leaving the bases loaded in the 7th and got nothing the rest of the way.

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The runs did prove important as the pen struggled.

Kyle Hurt had a rare off day, issuing a lead-off walk, a one-out walk, and then giving up a double to Nolan Arenado to score a couple runs.

Hurt seemed to bounce back with a strikeout, but he then issued another walk to put a pair on, and Dave came to get him.

Will Klein entered and didn’t fare much better, giving up a single to load the bases, then walking Pavin Smith to force in a run and make it 6-5 Dodgers. He finally barely got out of it with a grounder to Freddie, who made a nice play.

Klein continued in the 8th, giving up back-to-back one-out singles to put him in trouble again, but he then rolled a pair to keep the lead intact.

That set things up for Tanner Scott to close things out in the 9th, and he started with a strikeout, but then gave up a single against the shift. After falling behind 3-1, a bunt attempt advanced a runner to second but also resulted in the second out. A bit of a gift there. Scott got a ground to end it.

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39-22

The series continues tomorrow at the same time again of 3:40 PM HT/6:40 PM PT/9:40 PM ET on MLB Network. It’ll be Shohei Ohtani looking to build his Cy Young resume against Zac Gallen.

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