Red Sox overcome Ohtani leadoff homer for 4-2 comeback victory vs. Dodgers

Gabrielle Starr, Boston Herald on Jul 26, 2025

Published in Baseball

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BOSTON — It was October-like, high-stakes baseball theater from start to finish at Fenway Park on Saturday night as the Red Sox and Dodgers battled it out in front of an electric, sold-out crowd.

Los Angeles struck first, but Boston got the last laugh, overcoming an immediate two-run deficit to win, 4-2, and even the series.

Hours after Red Sox manager Alex Cora admitted he was concerned by the club’s sharp decrease in starting pitching depth, Boston’s ace overcame a rough beginning to put together another overall gem and make Major League Baseball history.

On Saturday night, Garrett Crochet became the first left-handed pitcher ever to record a sub-2.25 ERA and at least 175 strikeouts in his first 22 games with a team. The only right-handers to put up such numbers were Roger Clemens when he joined the Toronto Blue Jays in ‘97, and Justin Verlander after being traded from the Detroit Tigers to the Houston Astros in ‘17.

While the marquee billing for the evening contest was Crochet versus Dodgers icon and fellow southpaw Clayton Kershaw, it wasn’t exactly a pitchers’ duel.

Kershaw couldn’t finish the fifth inning. He yielded four earned runs on six hits, walked two and struck out two before Dodgers manager (and 2004 Red Sox legend) Dave Roberts walked out to the mound.

Prior to Saturday, Kershaw’s only career game at Fenway in 18 big league seasons was Game 1 of the 2018 World Series. That hadn’t gone well, either: five earned runs on seven hits, three walks and five strikeouts in just four frames.

The Sho-down was significantly more entertaining.

Shohei Ohtani led off the game with his 38th homer of the year, a 414-footer blasted 108.5 mph to dead-center. Teoscar Hernandez followed with a one-out homer that soared over and beyond the Green Monster, but those were the only two runs the Dodgers could get off Crochet.

Rounds 2 and 3 went to Crochet, who punched out Ohtani to end the third and fourth inning. Their third and final battle was over in the blink of an eye, and stranded runners on the corners. The Sox southpaw fanned Ohtani on three pitches, the last an 87.9-mph cutter that fooled the lefty hitter into swinging as the pitch swerved well below and away from the zone.

The Dodgers put at least one man on base in each of Crochet’s six innings, but he and the Red Sox defense worked out of every jam.

Falling behind early has been a problem for the Red Sox all season, but especially since the All-Star break. They entered play with a 2-5 record in the second half. Their two victories were the only two games in which they scored more than two runs.

Situational hitting remained a struggle on Saturday night, but less so than in recent days. Boston tallied 10 hits but went 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base. Romy Gonzalez and Wilyer Abreu, pinch hitting for Gonzalez with the bases loaded in the seventh, both ground into inning-ending double plays.

The Red Sox did, however, get three-hit performances from Alex Bregman and Jarren Duran. It was Bregman’s first game with at least three hits since before his quad strain in May. Duran became the first Red Sox player with a multi-triple game since Mookie Betts on July 13, 2018, and added a double for good measure.

Justin Wilson and Garrett Whitlock were untouchable in their respective seventh and eighth innings, and Aroldis Chapman took the ninth.

With two outs in the top of the ninth, Betts, who flew into Boston earlier in the evening to join the Dodgers, stood on deck to pinch hit for Hyeseong Kim, if Esteury Ruiz could keep the inning alive.

Chapman walked Ruiz, and up came Betts, to the delight of both sides of the 36,687 in attendance.

He saw seven pitches, swung at two, and was called out looking on a 97.7-mph four-seamer.