The Dodgers end the first half with a bittersweet feeling

Shohei Ohtani hit his ninth leadoff home run of the season on Sunday against the Arizona Diamondbacks. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)

by Megan Garcia

The Dodgers didn’t exactly finish the first half of the season at their very best.

After dropping their fourth game in their last five, capped by a 5–3 loss to the Diamondbacks on Sunday, the Dodgers still own the best record in baseball entering the All-Star break. But the components that have made the Dodgers reach the top spot are also the root of this tough stretch.

“At the end of the day, we gave away too many bases,” said manager Dave Roberts. “We didn’t play good defense, and then situationally, we weren’t good offensively. So, when you do that, you lose three (in a row).”

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Defense has been one of the team’s strong suits this year, but July has spelled trouble for the Dodgers. They committed five errors in the series against Arizona, giving them nine total errors in July — tied for the third most in baseball.

The offense has found itself in a rut in the past five games as well. Since Tuesday, the Dodgers have gone 33-for-163 (.197).

Sunday’s offense was supplied by Shohei Ohtani’s leadoff home run and Tommy Edman’s two-run single in the third.

Ohtani crushed his ninth leadoff home run of 2026 and at 437 feet to straight-away center, it was the farthest hit home run at UNIQLO Field at Dodger Stadium this season.

Ohtani enters the All-Star break with 22 home runs, tied for fifth in the National League and 10th in the Majors.

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Sheehan looked strong for most of his 5 1/3 innings against the Diamondbacks. He retired 13 of his first 14 batters to start the game, including a 14-pitch battle against leadoff hitter Ketel Marte that ended with a strikeout in the first.

Sheehan’s seven strikeouts were the most he has recorded since June 14. He finishes the first half with a 4.70 ERA.

“I’m happy with the work we’ve put in to get back to the point we’re at now,” Sheehan said of his mechanical adjustments recently. “The process of it all, I think we’re in a good spot with that; we know what we need to work on.”

For all their pre-break woes, the Dodgers continue to have the second-best team batting average in Major League Baseball at .262, and their .777 on-base-plus-slugging percentage ranks as the best across the league.

Moreover, the Dodger pitching staff ends the first half with a 3.55 ERA, the third-best mark in baseball — and of course, the most wins.

“We flush it. We’re still in a good spot,” Roberts said of the series sweep. “(We can’t) let it carry over into the second half.”

Top Dodger Prospects Represent in the Futures Game

The Dodgers’ №1 prospect Josue De Paula and №2 prospect Mike Sirota were selected to participate in the 2026 Futures Game in Philadelphia. The annual game kicks off All-Star Week and features the top prospects in the American and National Leagues.

De Paula was the National League’s starting left fielder and went 1-for-2 with a single. Sirota replaced his Double-A Tulsa teammate in the fifth inning and went 0-for-1 at the plate.