Tuesday, July 7, 2026

Copyrighted by Sarah Morris, 2026

Two uncharacteristic errors by Miguel Rojas and Freddie Freeman led to a three-run eighth inning. A 4–3 defeat by the Colorado Rockies was the most heartbreaking Los Angeles Dodgers’ loss of the 2026 season.

Below cotton candy skies at Dodger Stadium, Justin Wrobleski strengthened his case to be in Philadelphia next Tuesday for the All-Star Game. While he wasn’t named on Saturday, players, especially pitchers, are unable to play. Wrobleski should have one of those places.

He allowed only one run over seven innings. He baffled the Rockies with his four-seam fastball, slider, and changeup. Early on, he struggled with his command, walking two, but as the game proceeded to the middle innings, he dotted his pitches. He knew how to keep the Rockies off balance. He struck out nine. If the Dodgers could have held onto the two-run lead, Wrobleski deserved to win his eleventh game of the season.

Shohei Ohtani opened the game with the 300^th home run of his major league career.

The Dodgers were 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position. Without Mookie Betts and Teoscar Hernández in the lineup, the Dodgers knew runs would be difficult. In the fourth inning, the Dodgers took advantage of a bases-loaded walk, and in the sixth inning, after Tommy Edman reached on a fielding error and went to third on Dalton Rushing’s groundout, Alex Freeland’s single brought Edman home.

Will Klein began the eighth inning with a walk and allowed a single but retired two batters. Dave Roberts played the matchups and brought in Jack Dreyer. A ground ball ate up Rojas, which is unusual. A soft grounder was hit to Max Muncy, who threw accurately but late to first baseman Freeman. Freeman noticed the runner on second was taking off for third, but Dreyer failed to cover third base, so the throw went into the Dodgers’ third-base dugout, allowing the winning run to score.

Evan Phillips made his 2026 major league debut in the ninth inning. Despite allowing a single, he struck out two in a scoreless frame.

While Freeland singled and pinch-hitter Teoscar Hernández walked to begin the bottom of the ninth inning, Ohtani, Andy Pages, or Freeman could advance the runners.

Roki Sasaki will try to rebound from a poor start against the San Diego Padres and help his team to win the Rockies’ series on Wednesday.