Shohei Ohtani makes his longest start yet, but he and Dodgers falter to fall into second place

The good news for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday: Shohei Ohtani made his longest start of the season, he and Will Smith delivered some big hits and the previously struggling Mookie Betts had his fifth multi-hit game in eight days.

The bad news: everything else.

Ohtani beat his season high of four innings against the Los Angeles Angels, but by only one out as both he and the Dodgers’ bullpen faltered in another frustrating 6-5 loss, the final act of an Anaheim sweep. The Angels have won seven straight games against their cross-metropolitan area rivals for the first time in their mutual history.

With the streaking San Diego Padres winning 11-1 against the San Francisco Giants earlier in the day, the Dodgers also now sit one game back in the NL West.

It’s the first time the Dodgers have sat outside of first place since April 27. That makes their upcoming three-game home series against the Padres this weekend even more of a must-win, with a road series against them looming in the weekend after.

Ohtani finished with a line of 4 1/3 innings, five hits, four earned runs and seven strikeout. Once again, he flashed some otherworldly stuff, most notably when he repeated World Baseball Classic history by striking out former teammate Mike Trout twice intwo at-bats, but three straight hits in the fifth inning ended his start prematurely.

He at least became the first starting pitcher of MLB’s modern era (since 1900) to hit a leadoff triple.

The Dodgers had cleared Ohtani to pitch into the fifth inning for the first time this season as he continues his return from UCL surgery in 2023. Manager Dave Roberts told reporters before the game he doesn’t expect the team to push Ohtani further than that for the rest of the regular season, as the priority has always been to ensure he’s healthy and pitching in the playoffs this year.

This was one his rougher starts of the comeback, with former teammate Taylor Ward taking him deep in the second inning. His four earned runs allowed represent a Dodgers career high.

Taking over for Ohtani was the bullpen trio of Anthony Banda, Justin Wrobleski and Edgardo Henriquez, who combined to allow three hits, four walks and two earned runs in 3 2/3 innings to surrender the lead to the Angels.

The Dodgers’ bullpen has been a liability all season and it might be at its nadir right now, with no easy options to protect a one-run lead and the majority of its closer possibilities — including Tanner Scott, Kirby Yates, Michael Kopech, Brock Stewart and Evan Phillips — all on the injured list. The bullpen currently ranks 20th in MLB in ERA with a 4.22 mark.

It should also be noted this was a classic CB Bucknor game behind home plate.

Back on July 3, the Dodgers 56-32 and held a nine-game lead in the NL West. They have since gone 12-21 with a moribund offense and a defective bullpen, while the Padres found their groove and added more at the trade deadline than Los Angeles did.

All momentum is on the Padres’ side as they head to Los Angeles this weekend, though the Dodgers are still favored to win the division by most oddsmakers and playoff models.