The Diamondbacks head into the All-Star break with some real momentum after doing something they hadn’t done in Los Angeles in years: sweep the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium.
Arizona’s three-game run in LA was its first sweep of the Dodgers there since Sept. 4-6, 2017, and it also made the D-backs the first team to sweep Los Angeles this season. That’s not a small thing, especially with the club sitting at 49-47 and just 2 1/2 games behind the final NL Wild Card spot, currently held by Miami.
Geraldo Perdomo summed up the feeling after the series-clinching win: “You know, this is a pretty good team,” Perdomo said. “They have amazing players.
To come here and play three games against those titan players, it feels good to sweep them up. They haven’t been swept [by us at home] since ‘17, and I think that was our goal, try to get that sweep for us.”
Sunday’s finale didn’t begin cleanly. Rookie starter Mitch Bratt, filling in for Zac Gallen, allowed three runs in three innings.
But Arizona didn’t let that derail the day. The defense tightened, the bullpen slammed the door, and the game flipped in the D-backs’ favor.
There were plenty of standout plays behind the pitching. Gabriel Moreno made a sharp bare-handed stop to take away a potential infield single from Shohei Ohtani in the fifth inning.
Perdomo added his own bare-handed gem, and Nolan Arenado followed with a diving catch in the sixth. Then the bullpen took over completely, throwing six hitless innings against one of the sport’s most dangerous lineups.
The sweep came with a twist, too: Arizona’s biggest bats weren’t the ones driving the series. Ketel Marte, Perdomo and Corbin Carroll combined for just two hits, which meant the rest of the lineup had to carry more of the load.
Tim Tawa answered that call in a big way after being recalled from Triple-A Reno on July 5. He went 7-for-13 with two home runs and seven RBIs, giving the lineup timely production and steady defense at first base.
The break also arrives with some roster uncertainty. Rookie outfielder Tommy Troy is scheduled for an MRI on his right shoulder Monday after leaving Saturday’s game when he crashed into the center field wall making a catch in the fifth inning at Dodger Stadium.
Jorge Barrosa replaced him in the game. Troy’s injury comes while the D-backs are already without Jordan Lawlar, who has not played since June 19 because of a right hamstring strain.
Arizona also spent Sunday’s draft day adding more arms. On the second day of the MLB Draft, the Diamondbacks took nine pitchers among their 16 picks.
Three of those came with the first three selections of the day, and eight of the first 12 picks were pitchers. The club had five selections on the first day, July 11, and two of those were pitchers as well.
Amateur scouting director Ian Rebhan said, “You try to play to the trends of the draft every year, and a lot of hitters go early,” Rebhan said. “There’s a lot of really good value in the college pitching circuit in those middle rounds and we kind of leaned into that.”
One of those picks, left-hander Worley, drew attention for his power stuff. He made 14 starts in the 2026 season at Stony Brook, posted a 3.12 ERA and struck out 93 batters in 69.1 innings, though he also walked 31. The 6-foot-5, 220-pound lefty has reached 99 MPH with his fastball, and scouting reports note 20 inches of induced vertical break, or “ride,” at the Combine.
Elsewhere, the All-Star break brings another major event: the Home Run Derby in Philadelphia on Monday, with the 2026 T-Mobile Home Run Derby set to start at about 5 pm Arizona time on Netflix. And in another MLB note, Blaze Alexander fractured his hand after being hit by a pitch on Sunday, setting off a benches-clearing moment in Baltimore’s 8-2 win over Kansas City.
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Diamondbacks Fans Will Want To Find This High School Bat In Draft List
The 2026 MLB Draft in Philadelphia stretched across two days and sent more than 100 high school players into pro baseball, with rounds 3 through 20 filling out the class for teams across the league. For Arizona, the later rounds are the part worth scanning closely, since those picks often reveal which prep bats and arms the organization thinks can grow into something more than a name on a list.
One of the more interesting entries for Diamondbacks fans comes in Round 11, where the club went to Florida for a first baseman out of Bishop Snyder High School. In a draft full of high school talent and plenty of long-term projection, those middle rounds can end up mattering just as much as the early splash, especially when a team is looking for a bat it believes can develop within its system. [Read more 🡒]
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The Diamondbacks have spent much of the season trying to find a rhythm, but the final stretch before the All-Star break has given them a much clearer identity. A split with the Padres and a sweep of the Dodgers helped push Arizona back into the conversation, and the pitching has been the biggest reason why. Brandon Pfaadt has won his last three starts since returning from Triple-A, while Merrill Kelly added a strong outing of his own as the club steadied itself and climbed in the power rankings.
Arizona still sits 2.5 games out of a Wild Card spot, which keeps the margin for error thin, but the bigger question now is whether this recent run is the start of something more lasting. The Diamondbacks are no longer just hanging around and hoping the standings break their way. They are forcing a tougher conversation about whether this group has enough pitching momentum to make the break feel less like a pause and more like a launch point. [Read more 🡒]