Shohei Ohtani homers before Dodgers unravel in

The Dodgers patched two-way celebrity Shohei Ohtani’s absence from the beginning rotation with a pseudo-bullpen day on Friday. In a 9-4 loss to the Red Sox, Ohtani did his half with his bat, but the Dodgers’ pitching wavered.

“You just can’t chase every single win, every single night,” supervisor Dave Roberts said. “It’s not responsible. It’s just not the right process.”

Back in the Dodgers’ lineup after a time without work to handle lingering soreness in his left knee, Ohtani had the Dodgers’ first hit, an opposite-field double into the hole off Red Sox left-hander Ranger Suarez in the fourth inning.

That same inning, Ohtani scored the Dodgers’ first run, crossing the plate on a single from Freddie Freeman — who prolonged his hitting streak to 10 video games, the longest by a Dodger this season.

The next inning, Ohtani saved the Dodgers’ rally going after the Red Sox (58-51) pulled Suarez. Facing left-handed Jovani Morán, Ohtani turned on a changeup and despatched it into the right-field stands for a two-run homer.

The Dodgers (69-41) used just 4 pitchers, thanks to left-hander Cole Irvin, who the Dodgers called up on Friday to present bulk.

After opener Edgardo Henriquez threw a scoreless inning, Will Klein’s struggles continued. Adding to his three-week skid, during which Klein’s been combating unhealthy mechanics, he gave up three hits, made an errant pickoff attempt, issued a stroll and hit Willson Contreras in the helmet. He was charged with three runs (one earned) over 1⅓ innings.

Irvin changed Klein. What started as a largely environment friendly outing fell aside in the seventh, when Irvin gave up 5 runs over 10 batters. He gave up eight hits and six runs over six innings. The effort at least saved the remainder of the bullpen contemporary.

“Orange County kid that gets to play for one of his hometown teams is pretty special, and I’m pretty thankful for that, and happy and blessed,” said Irvin, a product of Servite High School in Anaheim. “It sucks to lose, but there’s a part of me that’s proud that I get to wear Dodger blue.”

This time of 12 months, bullpen depth is top of thoughts for groups across MLB, with the commerce deadline on Monday approaching.

The Dodgers soar on alternatives throughout the 12 months to add relievers. But Andrew Friedman, the Dodgers’ president of baseball operations, famous earlier this week that the crew labored over the offseason to stop them from having an “acute need” at the commerce deadline. That contains their aid corps.

“When you have an acute need, it’s really challenging, because you’re paying 150 cents, 200 cents on the dollar,” Friedman said. “So we try to do everything we can to avoid not having to do something. But when you’re able to be in a position to be a little bit more selective and opportunistic about what potentially is available, it just puts you in a better position. So as much flexibility as we can have, the better.”

Díaz’s velocity is back

Dodgers nearer Edwin Díaz pitches against the Seattle Mariners on Thursday.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Dodgers nearer Edwin Díaz wasn’t excellent in his first two video games back from the injured listing. But after present process surgical procedure to take away 5 unfastened our bodies from his elbow, and a three-month course of to return to a major-league mound, he wasn’t anticipated to be.

“My first game back, I was a little bit anxious,” Díaz said after giving up two hits and a run to the Mariners en route to recording the save on Wednesday. “But I threw strikes, I made pitches, and at the end of the day I got the W. Tomorrow, we’ll see the video to see what they were [seeing] on the fastball and make an adjustment and try the next time to make some pitches to make them chase.”

The largest optimistic was his fastball velocity. Díaz’s velocity was down to start the 12 months, dipping to about 95.5 mph in his last two outings before touchdown on the injured listing.

On Wednesday, his fastball averaged 96.9 mph and he touched 98.9 mph, according to Statcast.

“I thought the second day was better than the first, and it’s great to have him back,” Roberts said.

Díaz restricted the Mariners to one hit in one scoreless inning Thursday and tallied two strikeouts.

After pitching back-to-back days, Díaz might be unavailable through Saturday, Roberts said.

Stewart injured

Dodgers pitcher Brock Stewart delivers against the Arizona Diamondbacks on July 12.

(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)

The Dodgers put Brock Stewart (2.45 ERA) on the 15-day IL with proper shoulder discomfort as the corresponding energetic roster transfer for Irvin — a hit to the Dodgers’ right-handed, high-leverage depth. They also designated right-hander Chayce McDermott for task to clear room on the 40-man roster.

“Should be short term,” Roberts said of Stewart’s IL keep. “He’s done a great job when he’s been active on really pitching well. So we’ve got to make sure, with the calendar on our side, we’ve got to protect him and take a couple weeks and then get him back. This is something that we are being proactive on and really try to talk through it with Brock and understanding our thought behind it, with the bullpen day just the coverage and not trying to put him or anyone else in harm’s way.”

This is Stewart’s third stint on the IL this season. He started the 12 months recovering from the best shoulder surgical procedure that ended his 2025 season. Then days after being activated in early May, he landed on the IL again, after aggravating a bone spur in his left foot. He returned again in late June.

“This is just more of a formality,” Roberts said. “I really believe, the training staff believes that it’s going to be short term.”

Not dashing Snell

The Dodgers had been contemplating bringing back Blake Snell (unfastened physique elbow surgical procedure) from his rehab task early to bridge the hole with Ohtani shut down from pitching.

They instead have determined to have Snell make another rehab start next week, when he’ll goal 5 innings.

By using a bullpen sport Friday, the Dodgers constructed in a full week of relaxation for Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Emmet Sheehan, who are scheduled to start the next two video games against the Red Sox. And they prevented pitching Justin Wrobleski on common relaxation.