Ohtani’s 24th homer bought a lead. The Dodgers bullpen sold it back.

Shohei Ohtani’s 24th home run of the season lasted about as long as a Dodgers lead usually lasts on a bullpen night. In the bottom of the fifth Friday at Dodger Stadium, Boston left-hander Jovani Morán left a pitch Ohtani could punish — a 112 mph two-run rocket to right that scored Eliezer Alfonzo and briefly made it 4–3. By the final out the Red Sox had won 9–4. Ceddanne Rafaela’s homer was part of a Boston surge that turned Ohtani’s go-ahead swing into a footnote on the scoreboard and a reminder on the wire: the bat is still producing; the game is not always following.

The night was already a designated-hitter chapter. Ohtani doubled to lead off the fourth for Los Angeles’ first hit, scored on Freddie Freeman’s two-out single, then waited for the bullpen matchup that became No. 24. He has not pitched in a game since July 3 against San Diego — a 110-pitch outing that also irritated his right biceps on a swing. Left-knee inflammation, managed through an Orthovisc injection at the All-Star break, flared again when he tried a bullpen in Philadelphia. Manager Dave Roberts and president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman have been blunt: the Dodgers will not rush the mound while the knee is still teaching the arm bad habits.

Ohtani himself framed the calendar. Speaking earlier this week, he said the biceps is “not 100%,” that the knee is improving, and that a conversation about pitching through discomfort in July would sound different in August or September. Roberts still expects him to pitch again this season and called a full postseason shutdown “highly unlikely,” but only if both spots keep healing. Until then the value case the club keeps repeating is simpler: they need him in the lineup. The swing and the bases do not ask the landing leg for what a delivery does.

That split is the story inside the homer. Los Angeles entered the weekend with the best record in the majors and a double-digit National League West lead — room to let the rotation cover while Yamamoto, Sheehan, and the rehab arms hold the calendar. A 112 mph go-ahead blast that dies in a 9–4 loss does not rewrite the MVP or October math. It does show what half of Ohtani looks like in late July: loud enough to steal a lead, not loud enough to finish one, while the other half waits on a medical green light the Dodgers refuse to fake.