​LOS ANGELES — The day began with disappointing news about Shohei Ohtani and ended with a stern blow dealt by the Arizona Diamondbacks to the Dodgers. After arriving in the city rested from an off day and riding a series victory over the Colorado Rockies, Los Angeles found itself stumbling into the All-Star break with a 9-3 defeat at Uniqlo Field at Dodger Stadium.
Hours before the first pitch, the Dodgers announced that Ohtani would not make his scheduled start because of irritation in his left knee. He would continue as the designated hitter this weekend but will also skip next week’s All-Star Game in Philadelphia as he undergoes treatment. “The knee flared up. Sometimes it calmed down,” Ohtani said. “There’s a lot of up and down, just kind of seeing how the knee really handled the last couple weeks. Really the decision was made to do the injection after seeing how the knee reacted over the last couple weeks.” Ohtani is slated to have fluid drained from his knee on Sunday after the game, then rest through the All-Star break. Dave Roberts remains hopeful that the injury will not significantly disrupt Ohtani’s pitching or hitting schedule after the break. “I could have started today. It would have been pushing the envelope a little bit,” Ohtani added. “My every intention is to use the off days to make sure I’m in a good place to be able to be in the rotation.” Even with the knee issue, Ohtani showed little limitation at the plate, noting that the problem affects pitching more than hitting.
Facing the injury, the Dodgers pivoted to a bullpen game, handing the ball to right-hander Kyle Hurt for the opener. Arizona struck first when Gabriel Moreno delivered an RBI single in the opening inning, giving the Diamondbacks a quick 2-0 lead. Hurt exited after just 1 2/3 innings, yielding two runs on three hits while recording one strikeout and throwing 36 pitches. “I just got to be better at finishing guys, just putting them away when I’m ahead,” Hurt said.
The Dodgers answered right away. In the bottom of the first, Ohtani crushed Eduardo Rodríguez’s third pitch for his eighth leadoff homer of the season and his 21st overall, followed moments later by first-time All-Star Andy Pages launching his 17th homer of the year. The back-to-back shots tied the game at 2-2 and marked the end of the scoring for the Dodgers until the ninth inning, when the offense finally broke the stalemate and again found the scoreboard, though the rally ultimately fell short.
Ohtani’s presence at the plate remained a bright spot in an otherwise challenging night for the Dodgers, who found the Diamondbacks’ offense too much to overcome as the game wore on. Pages’ early surge and the long ball from the reigning MVP highlighted the Dodgers’ resilience, but the Diamondbacks’ continued pressure and late scoring bursts widened the gap, sealing a 9-3 victory and leaving Los Angeles to contemplate the All-Star break with more questions than answers about its health, rotation depth, and sustaining momentum.
As the All-Star break looms, the Dodgers will hope that the time off allows Ohtani to recover fully and that the rest of the roster can sustain their early-season form. The next few days will be crucial in determining how quickly Ohtani can return to the mound and whether his knee will force any longer-term changes to his workload. For now, the focus shifts to rest, rehabilitation, and a regrouping of a lineup that showed flashes of power and productivity, even as it faced a tough opponent and an unforeseen health hurdle just before the midseason pause.