Edwin Diaz blows save as Dodgers' losing streak reaches seven games

The Los Angeles Dodgers were walked off Friday night at Chase Field, losing 4-3 to the Arizona Diamondbacks on a Ryan Waldschmidt home run, per Yahoo Sports. The defeat stretched their losing streak to seven consecutive games — the first such run this season — and left them outscored 46-25 over that span.

What happened

Edwin Diaz, who had returned from arthroscopic elbow surgery after missing 85 games, blew the save in the ninth inning, per Yahoo Sports. The Waldschmidt walk-off was the punctuation mark on a stretch that has now included two sweeps, with the Dodgers currently trying to avoid a third. Per Yahoo Sports, Diaz has shown diminished performance across his first four outings since returning, a detail that adds a layer of concern to what is otherwise a comfortable position in the standings.

The timing carries its own dry irony: Yahoo Sports notes that it has been approximately one week since the Dodgers reportedly acquired two-time Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal, and Los Angeles has yet to win a game in that span.

Why it matters

Seven losses in eight days is the kind of stretch that gets circled on a calendar regardless of where a team sits in the standings. For the Dodgers, the operational concern is less about the division race — more on that shortly — and more about the health and effectiveness of a closer who missed 85 games before returning to this role.

Per Yahoo Sports, Diaz has been struggling since his return, with diminished performance across four outings. Friday night was the most visible example yet, and the most consequential. Whether any roster adjustment is under consideration is not reported by Yahoo Sports. What is reported is that the results have not been encouraging, and the question of how the club manages his workload going forward is a real one, even if the answers are not yet available.

The broader concern the losing streak raises is one of timing and depth. The Dodgers are heading into the final weeks of the regular season with a rotation that now includes a recently acquired starter who has not yet pitched for them in the win column, and a closer whose effectiveness is being watched closely after a lengthy absence.

The numbers

The Dodgers carry a 100-62 record (.617) into the weekend, sitting first in the NL West with a 71⁄2-game lead over the Diamondbacks, per Yahoo Sports. That record is worth pausing on: a team that has won 100 games by August 8 does not typically generate genuine alarm from a seven-game losing streak, and Yahoo Sports acknowledges as much, noting that Los Angeles is sitting comfortably in first place.

Losing seven straight while remaining 71⁄2 games ahead of your closest pursuer is a particular kind of losing streak — genuinely bad and genuinely fine at the same time, which is a strange place to occupy. The Diamondbacks, for their part, are the same team that just walked the Dodgers off, so the lead is not being surrendered without a fight on Arizona's end.

Where the club stands

The Dodgers are 100-62 and first in the NL West. They remain at Chase Field on Saturday, where Yoshinobu Yamamoto is the probable starter against Brandon Pfaadt for Arizona. Sunday's probable matchup sends Justin Wrobleski to the mound against Eduardo Rodriguez. The Dodgers then return home Monday to face the Kansas City Royals at UNIQLO Field at Dodger Stadium, where Tarik Skubal is the probable starter against Noah Cameron — which would mark Skubal's first reported start for Los Angeles since the reported acquisition.

That Monday start is worth noting in its own right. Per Yahoo Sports, the Dodgers have not won a game since reportedly acquiring Skubal. His first probable start for the club, at home against Kansas City, is the next natural checkpoint for a team that badly needs one.

Is Diaz's role in question?

Yahoo Sports does not report any change to his role. What the report does establish is that Diaz has struggled across four outings since returning from 85 games missed following arthroscopic elbow surgery, and that Friday's blown save was the latest and most consequential data point. Whether the club adjusts his usage, his workload, or his roster status is not reported.

Under general league rules, a pitcher on the active roster can be moved to the injured list with a minimum 15-day stay. None of those steps have been reported for Diaz. The operational question is real and worth watching, but the desk is not in the business of getting ahead of what has actually been reported.

What we don't know yet

Yahoo Sports does not detail the specific nature of Diaz's diminished performance beyond characterizing it as a struggle across four outings. There is no reported timetable, no reported change in his role, and no reported club comment on his status going forward. Whether the losing streak has prompted any internal roster conversations is also not reported.

It is also worth noting that the 71⁄2-game lead figure comes from Yahoo Sports and reflects the standings as of Friday's result. The Diamondbacks, having just won a walk-off against the Dodgers, are presumably not standing still — though their record and trajectory are not detailed in Yahoo Sports' report.

What to watch

Saturday's game at Chase Field is the immediate test. Yamamoto on the mound gives the Dodgers one of their more reliable arms to stop the streak, and avoiding a third consecutive sweep is the stated operational priority per Yahoo Sports. Sunday follows with Wrobleski, a name that will be less familiar to casual fans than the top of the rotation, against Rodriguez for Arizona.

Monday's probable start from Skubal at Dodger Stadium is the larger storyline. A two-time Cy Young winner making what would be his first reported start for his new club, at home, after a week in which the team went winless — that is a reasonable place to watch whether the streak ends and whether the reported acquisition begins to look like the move it was presumably intended to be.

And through all of it, Diaz's next appearance will be watched closely. Four outings of diminished performance after missing 85 games is a sample that raises questions without answering them. The answers, or at least more data, are coming soon enough.