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The Dodgers finally ended their seven-game losing streak Friday night, beating the Arizona Diamondbacks 2-1 in 10 innings — but not before Edwin Díaz made it as painful as possible, per the LA Times. Díaz gave up back-to-back triples in the ninth inning to blow the save and force extras. The Dodgers then managed to scrape across the winning run in the tenth to secure the victory.

This is becoming a pattern with Díaz, and not the kind anyone wants. The former Mets closer was brought in to stabilize the back end of the bullpen, but his recent stretch has been anything but stable. Just days ago, he was on the wrong end of a walk-off loss and publicly blamed his struggles on an ineffective slider. Back-to-back triples in the ninth is about as ugly as it gets for a closer — that’s not bad luck, that’s hitters squaring up pitches in the heart of the zone. Díaz’s elite days with the Mariners in 2018, when he posted a 1.96 ERA with 57 saves, feel like ancient history right now. His slider, once one of the most devastating pitches in baseball, has lost its bite at the worst possible time. The Dodgers are going to have to make some hard decisions about the ninth inning if this continues.

The good news is the Dodgers found a way to win despite the implosion. Seven straight losses had a fanbase on edge, and the way this game unfolded — blowing a ninth-inning lead only to claw back in extras — could have easily been loss number eight. Instead, the team showed some backbone. Extra-inning games are coin flips by nature, and we’ll take the result even if the process was ugly.

I want to be clear about where things stand: this win doesn’t fix anything structurally. The bullpen situation is a genuine concern, not just a rough patch you wave away. Díaz has now blown multiple saves in recent games, and the margin for error in August baseball is razor-thin, especially when you’re trying to hold positioning in what’s shaping up to be a tight playoff race. The rotation is getting healthier — Bobby Miller and Gavin Stone are working through rehab assignments — but the bridge from starter to the finish line has been shaky.

Snapping a seven-game losing streak matters more psychologically than anything else. Losing streaks have a way of compounding, where every close game feels like a foregone conclusion. Getting the win, even in chaotic fashion, can reset the clubhouse temperature. The Dodgers needed this one badly, and they got it — despite Díaz’s best efforts to give it away. Now the question is whether this is a turning point or just a brief interruption in a larger skid. The bullpen usage going forward will tell us a lot about how the coaching staff views Díaz’s role right now.

Source(s): Staff (LA Times) | First reported: August 9, 2026 4:12 AM UTC

God Bless and Go Dodgers