The Dodgers (69-41) dropped the series opener 9-4 to the Red Sox (58-51) Friday night at Dodger Stadium.
Failed scoring opportunities and shoddy defensive and base running doomed the Dodgers in this one. Boston’s explosive offense surged past the Dodgers 9-4. The Dodgers utilized Edgardo Henriquez as an opener for a designated bullpen game, and Dave Roberts leaned on Cole Irvin to eat the majority of the innings and make over 100 pitches in his first MLB appearance since 2024.
Nine of the first 20 batters reached base safely for Boston. The Red Sox lineup aggressively put pressure on the Dodgers bullpen from the start of the game and series.
Boston got on the board first in the top of the second inning against Will Klein. Boston cashed in a walk to Caleb Durbin and throwing error on Klein on a pickoff attempt that went awry. Jarren Duran drove in Durbin with the big RBI single to put the Red Sox ahead first.
Klein got further into trouble in the third when he loaded the bases with one out. Nick Sogard and Ceddanne Rafaela hit consecutive singles, and then Klein beaned Willson Contreras in the side of the helmet. Contreras did come out of the game, but stayed in under his own accord at first.
Irvin was thrown into the fire for his Dodger debut and first MLB appearance since Sept. 2024 with the Minnesota Twins. Another defensive blunder, this time on Freddie Freeman at first base, allowed two runs to come in on a Masataka Yoshida chopper.
Shohei Ohtani led off the bottom of the fourth against Suárez with a double, the first base hit of the game for the Dodgers. Freeman drove in Ohtani with two outs to make it 3-1 to make up for his error.
The Dodgers got the tying run aboard in the sixth after Suárez gave up a leadoff walk to Tucker and Kiké Hernández single.
Eliezer Alfonzo reached for a breaking ball and dumped it into center field to bring in the second run of the night for the Dodgers. Kiké Hernández was thrown out at second base on the play after too aggressive of a turn. That proved to be costly, erasing the man at second base with Ohtani up to bat.
The Dodgers offense went 3-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base.
Jovani Morán came out of the Boston bullpen to face Ohtani and served up a rocket of a 112-mph two-run home run. The Dodgers took a 4-3 lead.
The Dodgers opened the sixth with back-to-back hits from Freeman and Mookie Betts. An intentional walk to pinch-hitter Max Muncy loaded the bases with two outs for Alfonzo. With Ohtani lurking on deck, Alfonzo grounded out to leave the bases loaded.
The Red Sox took back the lead in the seventh when Ceddanne Rafaela hit a two-run home run off Irvin.
Andruw Monasterio doubled in another two runs to give the Red Sox a commanding lead. Boston scored their fifth run of the inning on a scoring Duran ground ball to make it 8-4. Monasterio also made a couple of outstanding defensive plays to save runs for the Red Sox.
Freeman led off the eighth inning with his third hit of the night. Tucker managed a single as well, but the Dodgers stranded another couple of runners.
The Red Sox added a ninth run in the ninth on a Carlos Narváez sac fly.
Friday particulars
Home runs: Shohei Ohtani (24); Ceddanne Rafaela (12)
WP — Brayan Bello (3-6): 4 IP, 3 hits, 1 run, no walks, 3 strikeouts (58 pitches)
LP — Cole Irvin (0-1): 6 IP, 8 hits, 6 runs, 3 walks, 5 strikeouts (102 pitches)
Up next
Yoshinobu Yamamoto ( 10-6, 2.78 ERA, 0.88 WHIP) makes his first career start against the Red Sox Saturday (6:10 p.m., SportsNet LA). Left-hander Payton Tolle (6-6, 3.32 ERA, 1.11 WHIP) counters for Boston.
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