The Dodgers are back at it Saturday night in Arizona with one goal in front of them: snap the seven-game skid and square up the series after Friday’s gut-punch loss.
That opener ended in walk-off fashion, a 4-3 defeat that came when closer Edwin Díaz allowed a two-run homer to the Diamondbacks’ No. 9 hitter, Ryan Waldschmidt. Afterward, Dave Roberts didn’t sugarcoat what he saw.
“A loss is a loss, but to get walked off never feels good,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after the game. “We didn’t play a clean game, a great game on either side of the baseball, but we did enough to put ourselves in a position to win a game, and unfortunately, we couldn’t finish it.”
Now the Dodgers are trying to steady things before this one gets away from them. Their lead in the National League West has shrunk to 7.5 games, and Arizona has also nudged ahead in the season series, 6-5, with two games left to play.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto gets the ball for Los Angeles, and he’s been exactly the kind of arm the Dodgers need in this spot. He’s been sharp all year, and he’s been even better since the All-Star break, giving up six runs across 23 innings in his three starts.
For the season, Yamamoto owns a 2.76 ERA with 121 strikeouts and 29 walks over 133.2 innings. The Diamondbacks, though, have given him some trouble.
Right before the break, they tagged him for six runs in six innings, which stands as his roughest outing of the year. He also faced Arizona on Opening Day and held them to two runs over six innings while striking out six.
Brandon Pfaadt will start for Arizona. The right-hander is 6-1 with a 3.66 ERA in 78.2 innings.
Pfaadt has already seen the Dodgers twice this season, once out of the bullpen and once in a start. In relief, he allowed two runs on three hits in one inning. As a starter, he gave up two runs on six hits in 5.1 innings.
The Dodgers’ lineup also comes with a few tweaks. Tommy Edman has moved up to the No. 7 spot, Teoscar Hernández has been dropped to eighth, and Feduccia is in for his second straight start with Ben Rortvedt on the bench.
First pitch for Dodgers-Diamondbacks on Saturday, Aug. 8 is set for 5:10 p.m. PT/8:10 p.m. ET.
The game will be broadcast on SportsNet LA and in the MLB app. On the radio, it will air on AM570 in English and KTNQ 1020 AM in Spanish.
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