Dodgers Blow Lead In Spectacular Fashion After Shohei Ohtani Hits 200th Career Home Run

Just a few days before the Major League Baseball All-Star Break, the preseason favorite Los Angeles Dodgers have been struggling.

READ: The Dodgers Are Running On Fumes

Injuries have ravaged the starting rotation and the lineup; the list of Dodger players currently on the Injured List would be its own playoff-caliber team. Mookie Betts, Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler, Max Muncy, Brusdar Graterol, Joe Kelly, Jason Heyward, Dustin May, Ryan Brasier, Tony Gonsolin and Emmet Sheehan all remain out for varying lengths of time. Others have missed time during the season, including Evan Phillips and Bobby Miller.

Seeing the list of names currently unavailable, the Dodgers' recent struggles are more understandable. But that's why you sign Shohei Ohtani. Ohtani opened Saturday's game against the Detroit Tigers with a leadoff triple, before coming in to score the game's first run.

With the game tied in the fifth inning, Ohtani provided yet another highlight: launching his 29th homer of the season and 200th of his career.

L. A. Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani slides into third base against Detroit Tigers third baseman Matt Vierling during the first inning at Comerica Park in Detroit on July 13, 2024. (Photo: Detroit Free Press / USA Today Imagn)

Dodgers Pull An Angels, As Shohei Ohtani Can't Help Avoid Disaster

The Dodgers have struggled on both sides of the ball in recent weeks; after Betts and Yamamoto went down on consecutive days in June, LA's been effectively a .500 team. 

The offense has not been able to score runs with consistency, while the pitching has been ineffective, to say the least. Out of desperation, the Dodgers called up Justin Wrobleski, who'd made just two career starts above Double-A. Wrobelski did his job though, before the Dodgers' bullpen sprung into action. 

Entering the ninth inning, Los Angeles had effectively a 99.9 percent win probability. With a five-run lead against one of the weakest lineups in baseball, finishing the game was in theory, a formality. But if you think winning games with significant leads is a formality, you have not watched the 2024 Los Angeles Dodgers. The Tigers went single-single-double to drive home two. Closer Evan Phillips was brought in to solidify the game, and initially it seemed like he might, inducing a grounder and strikeout. 

But Carson Kelly lifted a single to left field and Colt Keith added a 94.4 mph home run, a ball that wouldn't qualify as hard hit by MLB's standards. Those still count, however, and it forced the game into extras.

In classic Dodgers' fashion, they loaded the bases in extras, only for Freddie Freeman to ground into a first pitch double play. And then the Tigers walked it off.

The game was a microcosm of the 2024 Dodgers season; exceptional performance from Ohtani, with mediocre starting pitching and disastrous bullpen failures. In an unusual turn of events, the Dodgers even had some hits with runners in scoring position, though that success came back to bite them in the 10th. The LA lineup can only handle so much success before reverting to form.

Regardless, Ohtani must have wondered if he'd accidentally transported himself back to his old team, considering the win probability chart.

If nothing else, at least Saturday's game provided an opportunity for the return of the classic Ohtani headline: he does something spectacular, as his team finds a way to lose.