Justin Wrobleski's struggles and defensive woes add up to another Dodgers loss

Maddie Lee, Los Angeles Times on Aug 9, 2026

Published in Baseball

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PHOENIX — Dodgers haven't played their best baseball over the last nine days. But during their 4-2 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday, they played some of their worst.

Dodgers starter Justin Wrobleski remained in a rut, giving up four runs (three earned) in 3 1/3 innings. The two-run homer he surrendered to Diamondbacks switch hitter Ketel Marte in the first inning was the ninth home run he has given up in three starts.

Before his recent struggles, Wrobleski hadn't surrendered more than three homers in three games this season.

He left a fastball belt-high to Marte, who entered Sunday with a .913 OPS against left-handed pitchers. Marte lined it into the Diamondbacks' bullpen in the left-field corner.

After Wrobleski's last start, manager Dave Roberts said the Dodgers (70-48) would look into whether the left-hander might be tipping pitches, but he said before the game Sunday that those suspicions seemed "unfounded."

While Wrobleski clearly wasn't at his best, giving up six hits and three walks, sloppy defense didn't help his cause.

He could have been out of the first inning before the home run, but shortstop Mookie Betts seemed to get a poor grip on the ball as he attempted to turn a double play.

The next inning, Wrobleski fielded a sacrifice bunt and sailed his throw high and wide to first base, allowing a run to score and putting another runner on base.

Later in the inning, though the run would have likely scored anyway, the usually strong relay combination of center fielder Andy Pages and Betts ended with Betts throwing over catcher Ben Rortvedt.

The Dodgers' offense, in the meantime, went down in order in the first two innings. Betts made the best contact, but his opposite-field fly to the warning track found leather.

The rest of the way, the Dodgers tightened up their defense, and their bullpen shut down the Diamondbacks (63-56). The Dodgers' lineup strung together hits to score on Pages' third-inning double and Kyle Tucker's sixth-inning triple. But they still lost for the eighth time in nine games.

Here are three other takeaways from the Dodgers' 1-5 road trip:

Hitting into double plays

The Dodgers have grounded into an MLB-leading 99 double plays, including one in the eighth inning Sunday.

Part of that has to do with how often the Dodgers get on base. Entering Sunday, they led the majors in on-base percentage (.339). But hitting into double plays has been a major culprit behind the Dodgers' recent offensive struggles.

"It's not age," Roberts said. "It's not about putting guys in motion, because you start doing things just to do things. And when a guy swings and misses and gets thrown out by 10 feet, that's a bad process.

"You have to layer it on who the hitter is, the contact ability; who the pitcher is, the swing-and-miss rate; who the runner is. So there's a lot of people that can look at the rate that we hit into double plays and have thoughts, but they're not thought through."

Roberts pointed instead to the batter's approach at the plate.

"My thought is our guys need to do a better job at understanding what the pitcher is trying to do," Roberts said.

Back end of the bullpen

Setup man Tanner Scott and closer Edwin Díaz were not available out of the bullpen after pitching Friday and Saturday.

Scott's velocity has fluctuated over the past week, but Roberts said the Dodgers haven't yet found an explanation for the trend.

Díaz recorded blown saves in each game. Still, Roberts noted his intensity Saturday, after Díaz gave up the lead with back-to-back triples.

"I don't know if it's just, you want to be perfect, you're trying to get your feet under you, you've been in rehab mode a lot," Roberts said. "But this is something I think can be a springboard for outings to come."

For the Dodgers' bullpen to function effectively, they need Díaz to turn around his injury-disrupted season (10.80 ERA in 12 appearances).

Home sweet home

For the first time, the Dodgers are set to roll out their new one-two punch of two-time Cy Young winners. Tarik Skubal is scheduled to make his home debut at Dodger Stadium on Monday against the Kansas City Royals, followed by Blake Snell's return from the injured list Tuesday.

"On one side of it, you feel it as the home team because you feel the confidence of who you're running out there," Roberts said. "But on the other side, it seems daunting when you look at the probables and you see these Cy Young guys back to back. It's a lot to take in as an offense. So it feels really good to have those two guys on our side."

Along with right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto at the top of the rotation, the trio has the potential to be even more impactful in the postseason.

"I think you have to win with starting pitching," Roberts said of the playoffs. "You really do. I know in '24 we did it a different way, but starting pitching is kind of your backbone."

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