Red Sox 9, Dodgers 4: Bullpen game dropped after further sloppiness and wasted chances

Chad Moriyama 07/31/2026 Game Recaps Leave A Comment

While today’s pen game was sort of a scheduled loss for the Dodgers, that doesn’t mean the way they did it can’t be frustrating, as they had their chances and either wasted them or blundered them. The Red Sox made them pay late and handed them an 9-4 loss.

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The Dodgers were running a pen game that started off with Edgardo Henriquez, who struggled just yesterday. He was better today at least, giving up just a one-out single and steal in the 1st.

Unfortunately, Will Klein‘s nightmare three-week stretch continued today. A one-out walk in the 2nd was followed by a wild pickoff attempt that resulted in two bases, and later a two-out single to Jarren Duran that made it 1-0 Red Sox. He also uncorked a wild pitch after that but nothing else.

It got worse in the 3rd as back-to-back singles cornered the runners, and after a strikeout, Klein dangerously hit Willson Contreras in the head to load the bases. Thankfully he seemed okay even though he later left as a precaution.

That was the end of his night, as Cole Irvin entered, and he got a groundball to start but Freddie Freeman made a weird read on it for an error to plate two and make it 3-0 Red Sox. He got the next two to minimize the damage, but an ugly start for the team.

Irvin continued in the 4th, where he worked around a lead-off single and one-out walk, and then got a 1-2-3 frame in both the 5th and 6th.

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Ranger Suarez got off to an ideal start against the Dodgers, facing the minimum through three innings, as a walk in the 1st was erased by a double play.

The offense did get a rally started in the 4th when Shohei Ohtani led off with a hustle double, though two outs later and he was only at third. Thankfully, Freddie Freeman came through with a single to cut the deficit to 3-1.

In the 5th, a one-out walk from Kyle Tucker was followed by an Enrique Hernandez single, and then Eliezer Alfonzo Jr. also singled to plate Tucker and make it 3-2. That knocked out Suarez, however, Enrique got caught off second for the second out.

That was dumb at the time, but even more costly after Shohei killed his 24th homer to right for a two-run shot and a 4-3 lead that should’ve been 5-3.

The lineup then had a prime chance to add in the 6th, which started with a singles from Freeman and Mookie Betts, and they both were in scoring position after Teoscar Hernandez got robbed of a single himself. However, Kyle Tucker took strike three looking, and after an intentional walk to the pinch-hitting Max Muncy, the Red Sox got out of that massive jam.

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All of those wasted runs and chances immediately looked worse when Irvin started the 7th with a walk and then gave up a two-run homer to Ceddanne Rafaela that gave the Red Sox a 5-4 lead.

An infield single where Irvin didn’t get to the bag in time followed, and after an out, he gave up another infield single, and then a bunt single to load the bases. Andruw Monasterio followed with a back-breaking two-run double, and Jarren Duran hit a ball back off Irvin for an out but another run to make it 8-4 Red Sox.

Irvin hit the next batter but mercifully ended the inning after that, and faced the minimum in the 8th. He tried to close the game in the 9th, but started with a single and a double before getting an out and exiting the game.

Evan Phillips entered since Irvin crossed 100 pitches, giving up a sac fly before ending the 9th.

9-4 Red Sox.

And that was the final as the bats were scoreless over the final three innings.

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69-41, still the best record in ball.

The series continues an hour earlier tomorrow at 3:10 PM HT/6:10 PM PT/9:10 PM ET with probably the best pitching matchup of the series between Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Payton Tolle.

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