Shohei gives himself an early lead, Dills’ double dongs provide insurance to snap losing streak – Dodgers Digest

Coming off a depressing start to the second half in getting dominated by the Brewers, the Dodgers managed to bounceback to start the series against the Twins, slugging four homers and riding a piggyback game to hang on to a 5-2 win.

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Well, things certainly didn’t start ideally for Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers, as Byron Buxton took the second pitch of the game out of the park for a 1-0 Twins lead.

CRUSHED ?

Byron Buxton demolishes the second pitch he sees from Shohei Ohtani! pic.twitter.com/haT5wYRIK1

— MLB (@MLB) July 22, 2025

Fortunately, that was the only run they’d get, though it wasn’t easy. After he worked around a single with two outs in the 1st, he then had to navigate around a one-out single and walk in the 2nd, and a two-out single in the 3rd.

But the fact that an outing like this counts as being not sharp for Ohtani is pretty nice: 3 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 3 K, 46 Pitches.

Shohei Ohtani, Disgusting 83mph Back Foot Sweeper. ? pic.twitter.com/dhkTu6F3Rv

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) July 22, 2025

Shohei Ohtani, 99mph ⛽️ pic.twitter.com/Hr2Q3umMkQ

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) July 22, 2025

Ohtani also left the game with the lead thanks to … well, himself. After a lead-off walk in the 1st, Shohei followed by smashing his 35th dong of the year to give the Dodgers a 2-1 lead.

When your pitcher homers too! ? pic.twitter.com/7qeVMYKW4N

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 22, 2025

Smooth, Shohei. pic.twitter.com/2iTzUePbBW

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 22, 2025

Unfortunately that was it for a while, as nine Dodgers in a row were then retired heading into the 4th, which is when Will Smith thankfully ended that streak with his 13th dinger of the year to make it 3-1.

Will sends a souvenir to the pavilion! pic.twitter.com/ahpQk8hBAI

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 22, 2025

The bats then went quiet yet again, as they got just a baserunner on an error in the rest of the 4th and the 5th, but it was Dills to the rescue yet again in the 6th with his 14th dong to push the lead to 4-1.

WILL AGAIN! pic.twitter.com/7GDvoEJyOL

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 22, 2025

A one-out Freddie Freeman double gave the Dodgers a chance with RISP, and Michael Conforto capitalized on it with a single, but Freddie got thrown out at home.

To start the 7th, the Dodgers got that run thanks to the 18th homer of Andy Pages to make it 5-1 and give them real breathing room.

Andy makes it four Dodger homers on the night! pic.twitter.com/j4UVo1Mecv

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 22, 2025

A Mookie Betts two-out double was later left there, and the 8th was quiet to close the book on them.

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Thankfully, there wasn’t a whole lot more support needed.

Taking over for Ohtani as the new long man was Dustin May in the 4th, who also immediately had to work around traffic. A one-out single, stolen base, and walk created issues, but he managed to strand them both. A two-out walk in the 5th and a two-out double in the 6th were also left there, while a lead-off single in the 7th was erased by a double play, and the two-out walk that followed was also stranded.

May continued on in the 8th as his pitch count neared 100, but gave up a two-out double and one-out single, finally knocking him out of the game. He provided what they needed: 4.2 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 K, 100 Pitches.

Dustin May, welcome to your new role, baby.

— Chad Moriyama (@chadmoriyama.bsky.social) July 21, 2025 at 6:19 PM

Tanner Scott relieved him, got ahead 0-2, and gave up a missile on a center-cut fastball that Tommy Edman thankfully speared to end that threat as well.

What a snag by Tommy! pic.twitter.com/IerzBGzLhH

— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) July 22, 2025

Unfortunately, things didn’t get better in the 9th, as he got just one out while walking a batter and hitting one. He then threw a ball on a 2-2 count and walked off the mound injured.

Tanner Scott left tonight’s game early after this pitch.pic.twitter.com/BhegK3kLZ1

— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) July 22, 2025

Kirby Yates entered, threw a ball to load the bases, got a sac fly, and then a ROUTINE flyout to end it.

#NeverWorried pic.twitter.com/Ph0yYhLkkb

— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) July 22, 2025

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The two teams will get back at it tomorrow at 4:10 PM HT/7:10 PM PT/10:10 PM ET on MLB Network. It’ll be Yoshinobu Yamamoto facing off against Simeon Woods Richardson.