The Los Angeles Dodgers continued their streak of interleague play by hosting the Boston Red Sox for a three-game series at Dodger Stadium starting on Friday night.
It marks the Dodgers’ fourth straight game against the American League at home, and their next home series will be against the Kansas City Royals in the middle of August, giving them nine consecutive interleague games at Chavez Ravine.
The Dodgers are also looking to continue their winning ways, having won all four series they’ve played since the All-Star break, but they face an excellent Red Sox team that has been arguably the hottest team in MLB.
Red Sox 9, Dodgers 4: key takeaways
Shohei Ohtani blasts home run in return
The Dodgers fell early in the game, but worked their way back to take the lead. Their scoring started when Freddie Freeman singled home Shohei Ohtani in the fourth inning to make the score 3-1 Red Sox.
Ohtani reached on a leadoff double after returning to the lineup following a day off on Thursday to rest his knee. Freeman’s single gave him a 10-game hitting streak, the longest for a Dodger this season.
Shohei Ohtani crushed this ball to put the Dodgers ahead! pic.twitter.com/Aufrl21ZpU
— Dodger Blue (@DodgerBlue1958) August 1, 2026
The Dodgers went on to take the lead in the fifth inning, starting when Kyle Tucker walked and Kiké Hernández singled. Eliezer Alfonzo then hit an RBI single, but Hernández was thrown out after rounding second base.
That ended up costing the Dodgers a run when Ohtani crushed a home run for his 24th long ball of the season that gave the Dodgers a 4-3 lead.
Dodgers bullpen game
Things started off poorly for the Dodgers in what was a bullpen game with only five starters in their six-man rotation. After Edgardo Henriquez worked a scoreless first inning, Will Klein struggled as the second man out of the bullpen.
Klein allowed three runs (one earned) in his 1.1 innings of work. That started when he gave up a walk to Caleb Durbin, and then tried to pick him off but threw the ball away, allowing the runner to reach third base.
Jarren Duran started the scoring with a two-out single before the inning came to an end. But Klein went back out for the third and loaded the bases with two singles and a hit-by-pitch.
That forced him out of the game as Cole Irvin took over on the mound to pitch the bulk.
For Klein, he has now allowed a run in six consecutive outings and an earned run in five consecutive. He’s allowed at least one run in eight of his last 11 appearances.
Irvin was recalled earlier in the day with Brock Stewart landing on the injured list. The left-hander was thrown into the action with just one out, and he recorded a ground ball from the first hitter he faced. However, Freeman made an error that allowed two runs to score.
Irvin shut the Red Sox down for the next three innings, but things fell apart in the seventh as he allowed five runs to blow the lead.
The inning started with a walk, and then Ceddanne Rafaela slugged a go-ahead, two-run homer. That was followed by three singles to load the bases, and then Andruw Monasterio doubled home two more runs.
Duran grounded out on a comebacker to Irvin, but a run crossed the plate to extend Boston’s lead to four runs.
The Red Sox added on in the ninth with a single and double against Irvin, and then a sacrifice fly when Evan Phillips took over.
Irvin finished his outing allowing six runs on eight hits over six innings with five strikeouts and three walks. But he did his job and saved the Dodgers’ bullpen from having to cover too many innings.
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