PHOENIX (AP) — The two-time defending World Series champions are in a rare funk.
The Los Angeles Dodgers lost their season-high seventh game in a row in a stunning collapse on Friday night after the Arizona Diamondbacks rallied for a 4-3 win when rookie Ryan Waldschmidt hit a two-run, walk-off homer against closer Edwin Diaz.
“A loss is a loss but to get walked off never feels good,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “We didn't play a clean game, a great
game, on either side of the baseball, but we did enough to put ourselves in position to win a game.
"Unfortunately, we couldn't finish it.”
It was another rough outing for Diaz, who has an 11.00 ERA over 11 outings this season. The 32-year-old is a three-time All-Star, but hasn't been able to help the Dodgers much after signing a $69 million, three-year deal during the offseason.
Waldschmidt connected on Diaz's hanging slider, hitting it into the left-center field seats for his second career homer and first big league walk-off.
“It's the slider,” Diaz said. “The fastball was great today, but I missed the slider right in the middle. I think I was trying to be perfect with the pitch and I'm missing right in the middle — I've got to be better. I'm a big league pitcher so I've got to make pitches.”
The Dodgers were swept by the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs coming into Friday night's game. They still have a comfortable lead in the NL West — 7 1/2 games in front of the Diamondbacks — despite a 10-16 record since July 5.
Roberts acknowledged that Diaz has been struggling since his return from the injured list on July 29, but the manager wasn't necessarily ready to try a new closer. His reasoning was simple: there's no clear-cut alternative.
“Honestly, you've got to look at the options,” Roberts said. “The way some of these guys are throwing, they're not throwing great, either."
The Dodgers still look like a formidable team, particularly after adding ace left-hander Tarik Skubal in a trade-deadline deal with the Detroit Tigers last week. Two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell is also slated to return on Tuesday after missing most of the season with injuries.
And the lineup still has plenty of star power with Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts and Kyle Tucker.
Roberts said before Friday's game that the remedy for the recent troubles was simple.
“We've just got to play better,” Roberts said. “I don't think the standings — I mean they're important, they matter — but I just feel like with the talent we have, we've just got to play good baseball and it'll take care of itself. It always does.”
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