The Dodgers came up short Saturday night, dropping a tight 3-2 decision to the Boston Red Sox and seeing their run of series wins since the All-Star break come to an end.
Los Angeles had been perfect in series play after the break, but Boston arrived with serious momentum of its own after going 21-4 in July, a club record. That set the stage for a game that felt like it could swing the series, and the Dodgers will now need to try to avoid being swept in Sunday’s finale.
Before first pitch, the Dodgers also shuffled the roster, sending Cole Irvin out for Kyle Hurt and placing Will Klein on the injured list while bringing up Wyatt Mills.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto did his part to keep the game in reach. The right-hander worked eight innings and gave up three runs on four hits, striking out three and walking one. He mostly kept Boston quiet, but Ceddanne Rafaela made the biggest noise of the night, taking Yamamoto deep in the first inning and then again in the third to help the Red Sox pull even at 2-2.
The game stayed locked there until the eighth, when Boston finally broke through. Andruw Monasterio doubled, Jarren Duran followed with a single, and Connor Wong grounded into a double play that still brought home the go-ahead run.
The Dodgers had plenty of traffic on the bases but not enough finish. They collected 10 hits and scored both of their runs on Teoscar Hernández’s second-inning homer. Freddie Freeman started that rally with a leadoff single and pushed his hitting streak to 11 games, but Los Angeles couldn’t build on it.
In all, the Dodgers went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position and stranded seven. They also hit into two double plays, one in the first inning when Shohei Ohtani was thrown out trying to tag up, and another in the third after Tommy Edman walked and Freeman grounded into a twin killing.
Freeman and Hernández each finished with three hits, while no one else in the lineup had more than one.
On the other side, Payton Tolle set the tone for Boston with six innings of two-run ball, striking out seven and walking two. Aroldis Chapman handled the ninth to close it out.
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