RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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The Los Angeles Dodgers found their way out of a hole on Friday, then fell right back in.
Dodgers closer Edwin Díaz allowed a walk-off homer to Arizona Diamondbacks No. 9 hitter Ryan Waldschmidt to extend the club's losing streak to a season-high seven games. They are now 69-47 and still have not won since acquiring Tarik Skubal at the MLB trade deadline.
It was Waldschmidt's second career home run, in the rookie's 51st career game.
RYAN WALDSCHMIDT WALK-OFF HOMER! pic.twitter.com/awJyS4RYda
— MLB (@MLB) August 8, 2026
Waldschmidt entered the season as a consensus top-100 prospect and was called up in early May. He's certainly looked like a big-leaguer since then, slashing .292/.331/.417 in 182 plate appearances.
It was shaping up to be a cathartic win for the Dodgers, after back-to-back sweeps at the hands of the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs .
They opened the game by getting no-hit by D-backs starting pitcher Merrill Kelly for five innings, until Tommy Edman broke through with a single to open the sixth. They proceeded to rattle off a single run in each of the next three innings, giving them a 3-2 lead going into the ninth.
Some of those innings came with lost opportunities, though. Freddie Freeman had the bases loaded in the sixth but could muster only an RBI groundout, followed by a Max Muncy strikeout. Shohei Ohtani again had the bases loaded in the seventh, only to ground into an inning-ending double play.
Edman also had a home run robbed by Corbin Carroll in the third inning.
Corbin Carroll, WOW! 🤩 pic.twitter.com/s85ouGGTXJ
— MLB (@MLB) August 8, 2026
The Dodgers could have been leading by a lot more than a single run in the ninth, and it cost them dearly. It also cost them the chance to capitalize on another strong start from Roki Sasaki, who continued the best run of his career.
The flip side is an enormous win for the D-backs, who scored their earlier runs on a homer by Nolan Arenado and an RBI triple by Geraldo Perdomo. The game was significant for both teams — the Dodgers to end a slide that has taken them from the best record in baseball to the No. 3 seed in the NL and the D-backs to gain breathing room in the NL wild-card race, and possibly the NL West race.
At 61-55, the D-backs are still 7.5 games back from the Dodgers for the division lead, but that number was as high as 14 last month. It would still take an epic comeback to close the distance, but the Dodgers have opened the door a crack over the past couple week.
Friday's result makes the rest of the series even more important, with Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto facing D-backs right-hander Brandon Pfaadt on Saturday, followed by Dodgers left-hander Justin Wrobleski against D-backs ace Eduardo Rodriguez on Sunday.
Finish the sweep, and it's only a 5.5 game lead in the West, with a month and a half still left to play.
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