Dodgers’ wild collapse vs. Phillies not seen since 1906

The Los Angeles Dodgers got another scintillating performance from two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani on Tuesday night against the Philadelphia Phillies at Dodger Stadium in LA.

But not even the brilliance on the mound and at the plate by the baseball unicorn was enough to tow the reigning World Series champions to a victory, as the Dodgers squandered a big lead and lost to the Phillies to the tune of a 9-6 score.

With LA’s bullpen collapse, the “Dodgers became 1st team since at least 1906 to get 5+ no-hit innings from a starting pitcher and have bullpen allow 9+ runs in the game,” per Josh Dubow of the Associated Press.

Ohtani started on the mound for Los Angeles, and for five innings, the reigning National League Most Valuable Player held the Phillies hitless. He allowed just a walk and struck out five Phillies batters before Dave Roberts decided that it was time to call on LA’s bullpen to take over.

That turned out to be a costly decision for the Dodgers, as Justin Wrobleski gave up five runs on five hits, allowing the Phillies to erase a four-run deficit and grab a one-run lead. Edgardo Henriquez came in for Wrobleski, and he surrendered a solo home run to Max Kepler, who extended Philadelphia’s lead to two runs.

Ohtani cut the Dodgers’ deficit to one with a solo homer in the eighth inning, while Alex Call’s sacrifice fly RBI tied the score at 6-6 in the same frame.

Jack Dreyer and Anthony Banda steadied the ship for LA’s bullpen by combining for two hitless and scoreless innings, going into the ninth inning, where Blake Treinen failed to get the job done. Treinen retired the first two batters he faced in the ninth frame before disaster struck, as he later allowed a three-run home run to Rafael Marchan that put the Phillies ahead for good.

The Dodgers are virtually assured of a spot in the 2025 MLB playoffs, but their bullpen continues to be a cause of concern for them. Entering Tuesday’s game, Dodgers relievers had a .300 BABIP and a 4.20 ERA, sixth and 12th highest in the big leagues, respectively.