The Los Angeles Dodgers had another sloppy effort on Friday night as they continued a stretch of facing National League West opponents leading into the All-Star break.
The Arizona Diamondbacks lost an early lead but took advantage of Dodgers’ misplays in the middle innings to pull back in front and get back to .500 this season.
Diamondbacks 9, Dodgers 3
Shohei Ohtani’s knee injury
Just over six hours before first pitch on Friday night, the Dodgers announced Ohtani was scratched from his start and also is not going to participate in the All-Star Game due to ongoing trouble with his left knee.
Ohtani remained in the Dodgers lineup for the series opener and is expected to continue in his designated hitter role leading into the All-Star break. Ohtani didn’t show any outward signs of knee discomfort as he started the bottom of the first inning with a home run.
Ohtani’s eighth leadoff home run tied him with Washington Nationals star James Wood for most in baseball this season.
Dodgers offense goes quiet
Andy Pages followed Ohtani’s leadoff blast with a home run of his own that pulled the Dodgers even. It marked their sixth time hitting back-to-back homers this season.
Prior to Ohtani and Pages on Friday night, Kyle Tucker and Dalton Rushing had been the last to do so on June 27 against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park.
Costly mistakes
Cracks began to show when Brock Stewart surrendered a two-run home run to Tim Tawa, the Diamondbacks’ No. 9 hitter. In the fifth inning, a leadoff walk and Dalton Rushing throwing error led to the Diamondbacks scoring a run on Gabriel Moreno’s groundout.
Edgardo Henriquez took over for Stewart at that point, only to immediately uncork a wild pitch that brought in a run. Arizona scored two more runs in the sixth inning
The Dodgers’ defensive woes reached five errors in their last three games.
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