The San Diego Padres had the last laugh with a win on Shohei Ohtani's return to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Even before Wednesday's game commenced, the energy was in the air at UNIQLO Field at Dodger Stadium, due in part to Shohei Ohtani making his return from the Injured List.
In his return to action, Ohtani was batting second behind Mookie Betts — who had anchored down the lead-off spot in Ohtani's absence — but retained his role as the designated hitter.
Despite a 1-for-3 showing at the plate, the Los Angeles Dodgers were unable to generate any spark offensively en route to a 5-1 loss to the San Diego Padres.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto took the mound for Los Angeles in what is presumed to be his tune-up of the 2026 season before postseason play. Wednesday marked his 28th start, but it came at the cost of giving up four earned runs on five hits across six innings.
Padres put up runs off Yamamoto
San Diego was able to muster up a pair of runs in back-to-back innings in the fourth and fifth. Manny Machado scorched his 29th home run in the fourth inning for a two-run shot, and a throwing error from Yamamoto in the fifth — his first of the season and only second in his Dodgers tenure — led to another two-run frame.
The Padres drove in an insurance run in the ninth on a Freddy Fermin RBI single off Blake Treinen. That's the first run the Dodgers' bullpen has allowed since Sept. 17.
Turning back to the Dodgers' offense, it was non-existent. Los Angeles outhit the Padres 10 to six, but were only able to come across one run on a sacrifice fly from Tommy Edman in the fourth.
Dodgers not good in scoring opportunities
Overall, the Dodgers went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and left 11 men on base. Their one run scored marks the lowest run total since their 6-2 loss against the Cincinnati Reds on Sept. 16.
Teoscar Hernández and Andy Pages were the most productive of the bunch, both going 3-for-4 with seven total bases combined.
With the loss, the Dodgers drop to 97-61 with just four games remaining in the regular season. They'll finish out their series with Tyler Glasnow taking the mound in hopes of a series win to cap off their final home stand.
Following Thursday's game, Los Angeles will travel up north to play the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park for the last three regular-season games of 2026. Tarik Skubal will toe the rubber on Friday for that series opener as he was activated off the bereavement list earlier on Wednesday.
