Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers were looking for their first series sweep since the start of the month, and they certainly had their chances today, but they weren’t able to take any of those chances as they fell 5-2 to the Reds.
That said, it could’ve been a lot worse after Shohei Ohtani left the game with a trainer.
======
The goal for Shohei Ohtani was to stretch out to four innings today, and while he did pitch into the 4th, things didn’t go quite as planned.
The 1st started off shakily, as a lead-off double was cashed in by an Elly De La Cruz single to put the Reds up 1-0 early.
44 starts off the scoring @ellylacocoa18 pic.twitter.com/N6NBJ5vGtU
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) July 30, 2025
He also did get a pair of strikeouts to limit the damage, then two more strikeouts in the 2nd helped him work around a pair of singles, and he followed that with an eight-pitch 3rd inning.
——
To that point, the offense had been quiet with nothing in the 1st and getting just lone singles in the 2nd and 3rd innings. However, a one-out walk in the 4th from Will Smith was followed by Freddie Freeman‘s first homer of July and his 11th of the year to put the Dodgers up 2-1 just like that.
Freddie! Freddie! Freddie! pic.twitter.com/dGmupqPN47
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 30, 2025
——
Back to Ohtani, who came out for the 4th for the first time all season. It looked disastrous for a bit, as a single was followed by two wild pitches as a part of a four-pitch walk, and then two balls went to the next batter.
Ohtani never completed that batter, as Dave Roberts came out with a trainer and removed him from the game.
Shohei Ohtani is coming out of the game pic.twitter.com/hOUviFg9yM
— Dillard Barnhart (@BarnHasSpoken2) July 31, 2025
Concern followed, but fortunately it seems like it was just cramps.
Kirsten said it was cramps. Exhale. https://t.co/fjPBhJ83Hi
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) July 31, 2025
Anthony Banda took over in a difficult situation, completing the at-bat with a walk to load the bases. He then got an out on a sac fly and a pair of singles to escape the inning with the score tied at 2-2.
Starting in the 5th, Emmet Sheehan took over as the planned piggyback guy, and he seemed to be feeling froggy. He carved through the frame with a pair of strikeouts, gave up just a walk in the 6th, and got two more strikeouts in the 7th.
However, in the 8th he lost the zone a bit, issuing a one-out walk and then a two-out walk. That brought up Spencer Steer, who worked an 11-pitch at-bat that resulted in a bases-clearing triple, but not before Andy Pages dropped a potential foul out and James Outman just missed the catch of the year.
The margin of the game is Pages dropping this in foul ground and Outman not being able to make one of the robberies of the year. pic.twitter.com/9A3YoqWNpT
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) July 31, 2025
Either way, 4-2 Reds.
Blake Treinen then entered and continued to struggle, giving up two singles to make it 5-2 before closing the book with the final out.
——
Unfortunately, the Dodgers were struck on two runs that whole time as the offense couldn’t take advantage of a couple good chances. They left a two-out single in the 5th and a two-out walk in the 6th, but the ones the hurt came in the next couple innings.
A one-out single was followed by a lineout that required a sliding catch, and then a two-out walk put a pair on, but nothing came of it to end the 7th. The 8th was unfortunately an even bigger missed chance, as a one-out Smith double was followed by a Freddie walk, and then Teoscar Hernandez singled to center on what looked like the go-ahead RBI. However, Will got a terrible read on it and Dino Ebel held him at third to load the bases.
Will got a poor read on that single, but it was also pretty conservative from Dino. pic.twitter.com/f5AsXigjiU
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) July 31, 2025
Andy Pages proceeded to pop-out in foul ground, and Michael Conforto flew out to end that golden chance.
In the 9th, they got just a hit batter and that was it.
——
Alex Freeland‘s debut resulted in a line-out double play, his first hit with a single, a well-worked walk, and getting hit. It was a lot.
Unfortunate result in the first MLB at-bat for Alex Freeland. pic.twitter.com/A77G0bcx76
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) July 30, 2025
Alex Freeland's first Major League hit is in the books! pic.twitter.com/i09nb0DsUk
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 31, 2025
New celly, I guess.
I dunno what the new celly is exactly. pic.twitter.com/Gxuo0OG5zI
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) July 31, 2025
======
| NL West | Record | GB |
|---|---|---|
| Dodgers | 63-46 | – |
| Padres | 60-49 | 3.0 |
Goodbye to the Giants.
The trade deadline is tomorrow at 12:00 PM HT/3:00 PM PT/6:00 PM ET and the Dodgers will have the day off as they travel to Tampa Bay for a three-game series with the Rays. That game will be on MLB Network and will start at 1:35 PM HT/4:35 PM PT/7:35 PM ET with the matchup being Clayton Kershaw against Shane Baz.
