An exciting Friday night game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks, who debuted their new City Connect uniforms, was squandered by a leaky Arizona bullpen in a latest low point.
A two-homer performance by Ketel Marte and a grand slam by Lourdes Gurriel Jr became immaterial after Shohei Ohtani demolished a go-ahead three-run home run to cap off a six run ninth inning for Los Angeles.
Advertisement
With the general complaint around D’backs manager Torey Lovullo being his often controversial bullpen decisions, calls intensified for the ninth-year manager’s firing.
Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo takes notes during the third inning against the New York Mets at Chase Field May 5, 2025.Michael Chow / The Republic via USA TODAY Network and Imagn Images
The latest loss reminded some Diamondbacks fans of the team’s collapse late into last season, where they missed out on the 2024 playoffs by a tiebreaker despite leading the MLB in runs scored.
The blame for Friday’s loss fell on the shoulders of reliever Kevin Ginkel, who allowed hits to the first four Dodgers batters he faced, then was removed after picking up a strikeout and hit-by-pitch.
What immediately followed was Ohtani’s mammoth home run off Ryan Thompson to break the tie and ultimately bury the Diamondbacks. The moonshot was Ohtani’s MLB-leading 49th home run since 2021 hit 113+ mph, well ahead of the Yankees’ Giancarlo Stanton (39) and Aaron Judge (36).
Advertisement
Ginkel was credited with five of the six runs, with the only run charged to Thompson being Ohtani himself. Ginkel’s ERA skyrocketed to 15.43 after the inning.
Fans, well, were not happy with Torey. O
Fans seemed to be more angry that the Snakes put together a very complete performance that was ultimately squandered by a managerial decision. After all, an 11-run outburst should more often than not lead to a win.
The D’backs fell to 20-19 while the Dodgers improved to 30-16 against Arizona since 2022.
Related: Struggling Diamondbacks Receive Encouraging News on Former Top Prospect
Related: Dodgers Provide Concerning News on Tyler Glasnow