Twins @ Dodgers July 22, 2025: Yamamoto makes his first start of the second half, Scott placed on IL

The Dodgers snapped their losing streak with a comfortable 5-2 win in the opener against the Twins. Shohei Ohtani allowed a leadoff homer and then hit a two run homer in the bottom of the first while Will Smith (2) and Andy Pages added homers of their own. Dustin May was solid in his first look as a long reliever with 4 2/3 shutout, but Tanner Scott struggled with command and left the game with an arm injury (more on that in a bit). Kirby Yates closed it out, and the Dodgers got their first win of the second half. They look to lock down the series win tonight with their non-Commissioner Pick All-Star on the hill.

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7:10 P.M. Los Angeles
CF Buxton SS Betts
DH Jeffers DH Ohtani (L)
2B Castro (S) C Smith
SS Correa 1B Freeman (L)
1B France RF Pages
RF Wallner (L) LF Conforto (L)
3B Lewis 2B Kim (L)
LF Bader 3B Rojas
C Vazquez CF Outman (L)
P Woods Richardson (R) P Yamamoto (R)

Yoshinobu Yamamoto gets his first start of the second half. He closed out the two polar opposite starts. His second-to-last start came in Milwaukee and he failed to get out of the first inning, allowing five runs (three earned) and four hits and two walks while only recording two outs. He bounced back in the final game before the break in San Francisco, allowing five baserunners over seven shutout innings. While the Dodgers pitching (and hitting and defense and approach and everything) has cratered in July, he’s completed seven innings in two of his three starts this month. It’s been a nice recovery after a rough June for Yamamoto, who posted a 4.21 ERA in his five starts last month and the Dodgers lost four of those five games. Yamamoto’s never faced the Twins before, but did face Harrison Bader last season when he was a Met. Bader went 3-for-3 with a double and an RBI off Yama.

Simeon Woods Richardson makes his 15th start/16th appearance this season. He’s posted a 3.95 ERA in 73 innings but has been on a roll of late. Woods Richardson started the season in the rotation, but was sent down to the minors in Mid-May after posting a 5.02 ERA over his first eight starts. He returned in June and got shelled in his first start, allowing six earned and eight hits in 4 2/3 innings. Since then, he’s only allowed five runs in 30 2/3 innings over six starts with three of those coming in one start against the Brewers. He’s only allowed two runs (both on solo homers) in his three July starts, but has also only struck out 10 batters in those three starts while walking six. Woods Richardson’s never faced the Dodgers in his career and has only faced one current Dodger (Michael Conforto, who went 0-for-1 with a walk against him last season).

Woods Richardson primarily throws a fastball (45.6 percent), slider (28.7 percent) and curve (15.3 percent). Among pitchers with over 200 plate appearances against, Woods-Richardson has the 10th-lowest groundball rate in baseball and his curve is his only pitch with an average launch angle under 20 degrees. He’s also mixed in a change (6.5 percent) and splitter (4 percent).

Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman both get the day off. Andy Pages slides over to right with James Outman in center, and Miguel Rojas gets the start at third.

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Scott was officially placed on the IL with elbow inflammation. Alexis Diaz returns to the active roster.

Elbow inflammation is about as vague as can be, but Dave Roberts reportedly is more optimistic than he was last night about it not being a season-ender. They’re still waiting on the actual MRI results.

Naturally, that makes me less optimistic.

Diaz was called up by the Dodgers for the second time this season. They brought him up on July 8, but sent him back down the next day without him getting any action. He pitched two innings since being sent back down and struck out three while only allowing one hit. He last pitched on the 19th, so he should be pretty fresh.

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A couple more injury updates. Max Muncy took batting practice, and Blake Snell‘s next and potentially final rehab start will be Saturday.

Max Muncy is taking BP on the field for the first time since going on the IL.

(@fabianardaya.bsky.social) 2025-07-22T23:38:30.135Z

Muncy seems to be continuing his surprisingly quick recovery and could be back sooner than anticipated. Snell’s aiming for five innings/75 pitches and could potentially act as a deadline “acquisition”. If this is his final rehab start, he’d likely be back next weekend when the Dodgers are in Tampa, which would be fun if they were playing at the Trop and not at the Yankees Spring Training stadium.

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First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 PM PT and will be shown on SportsNet LA.

About Alex Campos

I've been writing about the Dodgers since I graduated from Long Beach State, where I covered the Dirtbags in my senior year. I'm either very good or very bad at puns.