Shohei Ohtani hits No. 300 as Dodgers' bullpen struggles

LOS ANGELES — Justin Wrobleski deserved better. On a night that should have been remembered for another milestone from Shohei Ohtani and another dominant outing from one of the Dodgers' emerging stars, the Dodgers instead walked away with one of their most frustrating losses of the season.

Back-to-back nights. Back-to-back bullpen collapses. But unlike the night before, there would be no late rally to erase the damage.

Instead, the Dodgers watched a 3-1 lead disappear during a disastrous eighth inning before falling 4-3 to the Rockies, wasting seven brilliant innings from Wrobleski and overshadowing Ohtani's historic 300th home run.

For seven innings, everything looked exactly how the Dodgers envisioned it.

Ohtani wasted little time making history, launching a first-inning leadoff home run to straightaway center field for his 20th homer of the season and the 300th home run of his professional career. The blast, his 129th as a Dodger, also made him the first Japanese-born player to reach 300 Major League home runs.

The baseball left his bat at 119 mph, another reminder that even after years of astonishing accomplishments, Ohtani continues to redefine what's possible.

"That was a truly amazing home run," Dave Roberts said. "The ball's exit velocity was 119 miles per hour, and the launch angle was low, but he caught it perfectly on the sweet spot. It reached the stands in a flash. And just like that, he's reached 300 home runs. It happened so quickly right in front of us. I'm amazed by him every single day. 300 is a really big number."

It's remarkable to think Ohtani hit just 48 home runs during his five professional seasons in Japan, where he was viewed primarily as a pitcher. Since arriving in Major League Baseball, the narrative has flipped. While he's still capable of dominating on the mound, he's become one of baseball's most feared hitters, adding another historic chapter to an already unprecedented career.

The Dodgers gradually built on Ohtani's early homer.

Andy Pages drew a bases-loaded walk in the fifth inning to force home Alex Freeland, and Freeland added an RBI single in the sixth to extend the lead to 3-1. Freeland finished 3-for-4 with three singles and his 19th RBI of the season, continuing to provide quality at-bats near the bottom of the lineup.

It looked more than enough because Wrobleski was in complete command.

The left-hander turned in another masterpiece, allowing one run across seven innings while striking out nine on 94 pitches. It marked his third consecutive start of at least seven innings and the seventh time this season he's completed seven or more frames.

His consistency has become impossible to ignore.

Three consecutive seven-inning outings. Twenty strikeouts over his last two starts. A 2.69 ERA that ranks eighth in the National League, with every pitcher ahead of him earning an All-Star selection.

Yet Wrobleski wasn't among them.

"Yeah, obviously, it's disappointing," Wrobleski said about not making the All-Star team. "You want to be an All-Star. It's something that, regardless of the year, whenever, it's always a big deal. It's something I wanted to do, and it's frustrating to not get that nod. But I think it's just more reason to try and keep getting better and hopefully I can get in with respect of players and everybody else, and maybe be in there next year."

If there was ever another audition for why he belonged, Wrobleski delivered it Tuesday night.

Unfortunately for him, he won't get credit for the performance.

The eighth inning unraveled in every possible way.

Will Klein entered looking to protect a two-run lead but recorded just one out before everything spiraled. A potential inning-ending double play instead became the turning point when Miguel Rojas couldn't complete the play, allowing the Rockies to extend the inning.

Moments later came the game's defining mistake.

Colorado executed a squeeze play, and Rojas couldn't handle Alex Freeland's throw while trying to tag the trailing runner. The ball skipped into the dugout, allowing two runs to score and turning a Dodgers lead into a 4-3 Rockies advantage.

Two defensive miscues. Three unearned opportunities. One game completely flipped.

Rojas didn't hide from responsibility afterward.

"I'm way more disappointed by the other play when I kind of froze, and I was like all over second base over there, and I shouldn't be there," Rojas said. "I should have been on third base, and we keep the game tied right there and give us an opportunity to win.

"So physical errors happen, and I'm okay with that. You know, I'm not perfect, and I'm gonna make errors, and physical errors are okay, but mental errors are the ones that are kind of disappointing." Rojas said.

His honesty reflected what everyone inside Dodger Stadium had just witnessed.

The bullpen certainly didn't receive much help defensively, but for the second consecutive night, it couldn't record the outs necessary to preserve a late lead.

The Dodgers had one final opportunity in the ninth.

Alex Freeland led off with his third hit of the night before Teoscar Hernández, pinch-hitting for Rojas, drew a walk to put the tying and winning runs aboard with nobody out. It was exactly the situation the Dodgers wanted. But baseball has a cruel way of ignoring momentum.

Ohtani, Andy Pages and Freddie Freeman were retired in order, ending the game and stranding both runners. Game over.

Evan Phillips made his long-awaited return, pitching a scoreless ninth inning with two strikeouts in his first Major League appearance since May 5, 2025. His return was one of the night's few encouraging developments.

The Dodgers have now seen their bullpen falter on consecutive nights, an unusual stretch for a club built around late-inning reliability. Tuesday's collapse, however, hurt differently.

It spoiled another historic night from Ohtani. It erased another statement performance from Wrobleski.

And it handed away a game the Dodgers controlled for seven innings before watching it disappear in a matter of minutes.