The Dodgers spent Sunday in Phoenix chasing a game that had already slipped away.
Justin Wrobleski, who was an All-Star this season, never found his footing in a 4-2 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. He didn’t make it out of the fourth inning, and the Dodgers were left trying to dig out of a hole from the first frame on.
Ketel Marte set the tone early with a two-run home run in the first inning, the ninth homer Wrobleski has allowed over his last three starts and 13 2/3 innings. Before that stretch, the left-hander had given up eight homers across his first 106 2/3 innings this year. Marte connected on a four-seam fastball, the same pitch that has accounted for six of those nine homers over Wrobleski’s last three outings.
Wrobleski’s recent slide has been ugly by any measure. He has allowed 17 runs over his last three appearances, including four on Sunday, and his own throwing error helped turn the second inning into a mess.
The home-run problem has been the headline, but the command has gone sideways too: he has walked three batters in each of his last two starts after issuing no more than two walks in any of his previous 13 appearances. He entered Sunday with a 5.1-percent walk rate, third best in the majors and the best in the National League.
His last two starts have also been his shortest of the season, with Wrobleski going 4 1/3 innings last Monday at Wrigley Field and 3 1/3 innings Sunday.
Eduardo Rodríguez made sure the Dodgers’ bats never had much room to breathe. The veteran left-hander struck out a season-high nine, topping his total from any of his first 23 starts, and finished seven innings with two runs allowed.
Against the Dodgers this season, Rodríguez has now given up five total runs, four earned, in 23 innings across four starts, good for a 1.57 ERA with 22 strikeouts and six walks. Arizona has won the last three of those games.
The Dodgers’ offense never did enough to force the issue. Over the weekend, they scored just seven runs in 28 innings, and they never put up more than one run in any single inning.
Even with solid starting pitching in the first two games, they couldn’t hold late leads and settled for a split. On Sunday, there was no such cushion.
They played from behind all day.
The broader picture has turned just as bleak. In their last five games, the Dodgers have managed only five runs against opposing starting pitchers over 30 1/3 innings. That’s a brutal place to live.
There was at least one bright spot after Wrobleski exited: Edgardo Henriquez, Evan Phillips, Kyle Hurt and Jonathan Hernández combined to retire all 14 batters they faced. By then, though, the game was already gone.
The loss gave the Dodgers four straight series defeats after they had won their previous four.
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