D-backs 5, Dodgers 3: Swept into the All-Star break as the defense continued to be impressively atrocious

Chad Moriyama 07/12/2026 Game Recaps Leave A Comment

The Dodgers have played almost comically sloppy ball for the last week or so, and that trend continued today in the final game of the first half and final game of the series against the Diamondbacks. They rushed out to an early lead and then gave up that lead almost entirely due to their defense continuing to play horribly. It didn’t help that the bats basically mailed it in the rest of the game in a 5-3 loss.

I figure I owe you an actual recap this time to end the first half.

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Emergency starter Mitch Bratt was making his second start of the season and his first pitch was crushed for Shohei Ohtani‘s 22nd homer of the year, which included amusing commentary from Eric Karros. 1-0 Dodgers.

A pair of two-out walks in the 2nd were then stranded, which looked like it would continue their recent frustrations, as an Ohtani double and Andy Pages walk started the 3rd but looked like they might also be left. A 3-1 flyout advanced both runners, but a 2-0 pop-up followed, so thankfully Tommy Edman rescued the chance with a bloop single to left to plate a pair and make it 3-0 Dodgers.

The end of the 3rd was the end of Bratt’s outing as well.

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On the other side, Emmet Sheehan did his usual thing of starting well by striking out the side in the 1st, including winning a 14-pitch lead-off at-bat against Ketel Marte.

The sloppiness sorta started in the 2nd, when Sheehan gave up a lead-off single that was actually a complete whiff at third from Max Muncy and promptly balked him to second, but he did manage to get the next three hitters to escape a jam.

Sheehan then rebounded with a clean 3rd that included another two strikeouts.

Sheehan continued to roll in the 4th, getting a clean frame, but the problems emerged in the 5th. With one down, back-to-back doubles cut the lead to 3-1, then Andy Pages just clanked a ball in center for a two-base error, and a sac fly plated another run to make it just 3-2 Dodgers before Sheehan was able to get the final out.

Things somehow got worse in the 6th, as a lead-off walk was followed by a passed ball from Eliezer Alfonzo, which of course was advanced to third on a flyball.

That was it for Sheehan, who pitched well but continued to run out of gas a bit: 5.1 IP, 3 H, 3 R (1 ER), 1 BB, 7 K, 101 Pitches.

Edgardo Henriquez entered and walked the lead-off man to setup the double play, and a groundball immediately followed. For whatever reason, Muncy tried to make the harder play at home instead, hit the runner, leading to an error, the run scoring, and the other runner getting to third again.

A single followed and gave the D-backs a lead, only getting bailed when he tried to take second. No more damage, mercifully.

Brock Stewart took over in the 7th, giving up a one-out walk and a two-out steal, but nothing else. Tanner Scott got a clean 8th, but Evan Phillips gave up a two-out solo homer in the 9th that made it 5-3 Diamondbacks.

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The D-backs pen started with clean 4th, 5th, and 6th innings.

Part of that was because in amusing contrast to the Dodgers they played stellar defense.

Then in the 7th, they finally gave up a two-out walk, but that was it. In the 8th, a lead-off walk was erased by a double play in a 1-2-3 frame, and they went down meekly in order in the 9th.

Woof.

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61-36, still the best record in baseball.

The Home Run Derby is tomorrow at 2:00 PM HT/5:00 PM PT/8:00 PM ET on Netflix and the All-Star Game is the day after at the same time on FOX.

The season will resume on a nine-game East Coast road trip starting on July 17 with three against the Yankees at 1:05 PM HT/4:05 PM PT/7:05 PM ET on MLB Network.

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