Ryan Waldschmidt delivered the final blow Friday night in Phoenix, and the Dodgers’ unraveling hit another ugly checkpoint with it.
Waldschmidt launched a 411-foot, two-run walk-off homer off Edwin Diaz to give the Diamondbacks a 4-3 win and send Los Angeles to its seventh straight loss. It was the kind of ending that leaves a dugout stunned and a skid feeling even heavier, especially for a Dodgers team that had owned the best record in baseball as recently as two weeks ago.
Arizona had already been dealing damage before the last swing. Merrill Kelly kept the Dodgers hitless through five innings, while Corbin Carroll helped swing the atmosphere early with a leaping catch to rob Tommy Edman of a home run and bring Chase Field to its loudest moment of the night. The Diamondbacks also got a solo homer from Nolan Arenado and a Geraldo Perdomo RBI triple to build a 2-0 cushion.
Los Angeles finally pushed back. Andy Pages put the Dodgers ahead with a go-ahead home run in the eighth, but the inning never fully belonged to them.
Arenado then struck out with the bases loaded, a sequence that loomed large once Arizona got its next shot. Max Kepler opened that final opportunity with a leadoff walk, and Waldschmidt finished it with his second career blast.
The loss was the latest chapter in a brutal slide that already included back-to-back sweeps at the hands of the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs. Over that six-game stretch, the Dodgers were outscored 42-22, and Friday’s result only deepened the numbers. They are 58-18 when allowing four runs or fewer, but just 11-28 when they surrender five or more.
Roki Sasaki started for Los Angeles and continued his strong recent form, but it still wasn’t enough to stop the walk-off. Diaz, brought in over the winter to help stabilize a shaky bullpen, became the latest reliever to get caught in the middle of the collapse.
Ryan Waldschmidt WINS IT for the D-Backs with this 2-run WALK OFF HOMER 🔥 pic.twitter.com/1fRz65oPC1
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) August 8, 2026
For Arizona, Waldschmidt’s homer added another layer to a promising rookie season. The club’s top prospect debuted in May, endured a bumpy introduction to the majors, and has only recently started to find his power stroke. Friday night gave him one of the biggest swings of the game.
It also kept alive a strange trend: the second straight game between these teams at Chase Field ended with a walk-off home run. The Dodgers will try again Saturday night to stop the bleeding.
In Other News...
Diamondbacks Bullpen Just Took Another Hit Fans Were Dreading
The late-season bullpen picture in Arizona took another damaging turn with A.J. Puk now sidelined for the rest of the year. The left-hander had already been on the 60-day injured list while working back from previous UCL surgery, and he has not pitched since April 17, leaving the Diamondbacks without a power arm they had hoped to lean on down the stretch.
For a club trying to piece together innings, losing another reliever is the kind of blow that changes how a staff is managed every night. There is at least some long-view optimism here, since the organization does not believe Puk will need another surgery and is expecting him to be in line for Spring Training next year, but for now Arizona is left to keep patching a bullpen that has taken too many hits already. [Read more 🡒]
Diamondbacks Face A Defining Dodgers Stretch With One Rotation Decision Looming
Arizona has been juggling roster moves to stay compliant on the 40-man while trying to keep its pitching plans intact for a crucial stretch. Michael Soroka is set to rejoin the rotation, and his return comes at a time when the Diamondbacks are still sorting through recent pitching performances and trying to stabilize a staff that has had to absorb a fair amount of turnover.
The timing matters because the next week brings a defining run against Los Angeles, a matchup that has shaped plenty of Arizona seasons before this one. With the clubs split down the middle in their season meetings and a postseason berth still very much in play, the Diamondbacks are staring at a stretch that could influence both the division race and where they land if they get there. [Read more 🡒]
D Backs Top Pitching Prospect Is Forcing A Bigger Rotation Question
The climb from internal brace surgery has already been impressive enough for Jordan Hagaman to turn heads in the Diamondbacks system, but he kept adding to his case in Double-A Amarillo. Even in a 4-0 loss to Arkansas, the right-hander matched his career best with 10 strikeouts, another sign that his stuff and his workload are holding up as he moves through his first real stretch against tougher hitters.
What makes Hagaman so interesting for Arizona is not just the strikeouts, but the way he has paired them with consistency over his last seven starts. He has emerged as the organizations top-ranked pitching prospect, and the larger question now is how soon the Diamondbacks will have to start thinking about him as more than a future piece, especially if he keeps handling advanced bats the way he has lately. [Read more 🡒]