The Dodgers’ slide hit another painful stop Friday night in Arizona, where a 4-3 loss to the Diamondbacks came on a walk-off two-run homer and pushed Los Angeles to 69-47. It was the club’s seventh straight defeat, and a game that swung from a deficit, to a brief lead, and then right back into the loss column.
Roki Sasaki gave the Dodgers a chance to settle in early. The right-hander struck out five and allowed two earned runs over the first six innings, while Edgardo Henriquez added two punchouts in the seventh. Tanner Scott escaped trouble in the eighth, but Edwin Díaz couldn’t finish the ninth after giving up the decisive blast.
The Dodgers did claw their way back after entering the sixth inning down two. Freddie Freeman got them on the board with a fielder’s choice, Tommy Edman followed with an RBI single to tie the game, and Andy Pages put Los Angeles ahead with a solo home run on the first pitch of the eighth. That edge lasted only until the ninth.
There was also a troubling development on the pitching side: one Dodgers reliever may need surgery during an injured list stint that began Aug. 1. The right-hander, who made a huge impression with a dominant World Series showing last October, now has the rest of his 2026 campaign in doubt after an MRI showed bone chips in his elbow.
Elsewhere, reigning two-time Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal spoke about his looming free agency and named a non-Dodgers destination he’d like if the opportunity comes. Skubal, who made his Tuesday debut with the reigning two-time defending champions, struck out six over six innings.
And Blake Snell has a return date at last. The fellow two-time Cy Young winner completed his rehab assignment and is set to come back after last pitching on May 9, his season debut following offseason shoulder surgery. He has been on the injured list since mid-May after surgery to remove loose bodies in his elbow.
In Other News...
Dodgers Fans Just Sent A Loud Message About SportsNet LA
Tarik Skubals Dodgers debut on Aug. 1 did more than give Los Angeles another night of buzz around the ballpark. It also turned into a notable win for SportsNet LA, whose local telecast drew a 2.97 Nielsen household rating and outperformed TBSs national broadcast of the same game. For a network that has spent years trying to strengthen its place in the Dodgers daily routine, that kind of audience is its own kind of validation.
SportsNet LA has steadily evolved since the channel launched, reshaping its broadcast team along the way and adding fresh elements to its set at Dodger Stadium. The latest ratings bump suggests Dodgers viewers are still willing to stay close to home for their coverage, even when a national outlet is carrying the same game. What makes that even more interesting is how much the networks identity has changed and how much attention this game might bring to the next step in its broadcast push. [Read more 🡒]
Dodgers Suddenly Have A Bigger Problem Than Their August Skid
The Dodgers seven-game losing streak has not been caused by a lack of pitching. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tarik Skubal and others have delivered quality starts during this rough stretch, giving Los Angeles a chance to stay afloat even as the calendar has turned into August and the skid has deepened.
What has made the slump more unsettling is how quietly the offense has slipped since July 1. The Dodgers have landed in the bottom half of the league in several key areas, including home runs and overall batting performance, and they have not been creating enough plate appearances with runners in scoring position to fully cash in when chances do appear. For a club built to overwhelm teams with lineup depth, that is a more troubling development than any one bad week. [Read more 🡒]
Dodgers Prospect Kendall George Now Faces A Bigger Question After Freak Injury
Kendall Georges season took a strange turn at Double-A Tulsa when the Dodgers prospect collided with the Drillers bat dog, an odd play that wound up sidelining one of the organizations quickest players. George, who has built his reputation in the Dodgers minor league system on speed and base-stealing ability, was briefly able to return before landing back on the injured list, leaving the setback hanging over what had been a promising year.
The bigger issue now is less about the unusual way the injury happened and more about how long it will take George to get right again. He let the news out on Instagram, and for a player whose value is tied so closely to burst and movement, any knee trouble creates real uncertainty about when he can get back to impacting games the way he usually does. [Read more 🡒]