Edwin

Edwin Díaz said he understands the decision of the Dodgers to use him in lower-stake situations rather than immediately relying on him as a closer. The rationale is that strategy will help him rediscover his confidence.

“I know I haven’t done my job,” said Díaz, speaking to reporters at his locker before Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. “If I had done my job, I would be in the ninth inning.”

He praised Tanner Scott, who has thrived in that role.

“He’s doing a great job,” Díaz said. “I’m really happy for him.”

Díaz, the team’s biggest offseason acquisition, had elbow surgery early in the season and was out from April to late July. His return wasn’t triumphant, as he had three blown saves and two more shaky outings in non-save situations.

After a game against the Colorado Rockies last week, he complained of a neck problem and was placed on the injured list. He has more than a week remaining before he returns.

Díaz said he underwent an MRI scan on his neck and nothing unusual was revealed. He’s working with coaches on making a small adjustment to his delivery.

“They showed me a couple videos from last year — my arm slot’s always a little low,” he said. “We’re working now to get it higher and more consistent in that position.”

The goal, naturally, is to make good on the expectations the Dodgers had for him when they signed him to a three-year, $69-million deal.

“That’s why they signed me here,” he said. “To be the closer.”

I can’t help but recognize the irony that Edwin Díaz is on the IL with neck inflammation. It was very likely caused by the whiplash he’s endured by tracking all of those line drives whizzing past his ear.

Ron Yukelson
San Luis Obispo

Regardless of whether Edwin Díaz ever excels again in his closer role, I wonder if anyone else feels like I do about the trumpets and light show hoopla announcing his entrance from the bullpen? I think not only does it add fuel to an already fired-up visiting team, it also is a slap in the face of the other Dodger relievers, who by the way, all currently have performed far better.

Gary Sohl
Fountain Valley

Edwin Díaz is auditioning for a spot on the postseason roster and the audition is not going well.

Richard Sherman
Margate, Fla.

Kyle Tucker’s sub-.240 batting average and the oft-injured Edwin Díaz cost the Dodgers $83 million this year — more than the entire payrolls of the Marlins and Guardians. No wonder so many fans believe the Dodgers are ruining MLB.

Barry P. Resnick
Orange

If Dodgers’ ownership is found to have circumvented the rules, there should be serious consequences. Voiding the fat contracts of Kyle Tucker and Edwin Díaz — and making them immediate free agents — would send a strong message from the commissioner’s office that such conduct will not be tolerated.

Steve Ross
Carmel

DENVER — The imaging Dodgers closer Edwin Díaz underwent in Los Angeles on Wednesday morning revealed a “best-case scenario,” manager Dave Roberts said before the series finale against the Rockies.

“There were no findings, so that was good,” Roberts said. “MRI was clean. It doesn’t change the fact that he had this sensation in his neck. But I think to keep working on it, give it some rest as far as throwing the baseball.”

Díaz officially went on the IL for “neck inflammation,” but early theories on the injury, before he went to a specialist on Wednesday, suggested the issue could be related to the area around the trapezius, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.

Roberts said Wednesday that the results suggested the injury was more muscular, rather than nerve related.

“I think he’d been feeling the tightness in his neck,” Roberts said. “But I think where it went to the other night, he hadn’t felt that sensation. So that’s what really checked him up.”

Roberts said he didn’t know exactly how long Díaz would be shut down from throwing, but he estimated that it probably would be only a couple of days.

The bullpen shuffle continued Wednesday, when the Dodgers activated right-hander Brock Stewart (right shoulder discomfort) from the 15-day IL. In a corresponding move, they designated right-hander Jonathan Hernández for assignment.

DENVER — The Dodgers are putting closer Edwin Díaz on the injured list for the second time this season, this time with inflammation on the right side of his neck, manager Dave Roberts said before the game against the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday.

The Dodgers are going to have Dr. Robert Watkins, who specializes in spine injuries, examine at Díaz’s neck in L.A. on Wednesday morning, Roberts said. He’s set to undergo imaging.

“It’s something he felt [Monday] night,” Roberts said before the Dodgers’ 7-6 win against the Rockies on Tuesday. “We don’t know if it’s something that has been there the last, call it, week or whatever but it showed its head last night. So we’re going to address it.”

The move comes after Díaz gave up nine runs and recorded three blown saves in a span of six appearances.

“I know Edwin is — I don’t know if it’s encouraged, but just know that there could be a reason why the stuff is not playing like it has in the past,” Roberts said. “And the neck, obviously, there’s ties with the whole body, the arm, and all that stuff matters. So I’m personally excited to kind of find something that kind of make us understand what’s going on.”

“We’ll know more after seeing Dr. Watkins,” Roberts said, “but given where he’s at, I don’t see a situation where he’d be out for the year.”

Díaz has only made 16 appearances for the Dodgers this season, recording an 11.85 ERA and 6.01 FIP. He spent three months on the IL after undergoing surgery to remove loose bodies from his elbow in late April.

After collecting a save in a 4-2 win over the Seattle Mariners on July 29 in his first appearance back, Díaz was unable to show command in subsequent outings. He blew saves on consecutive days against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Aug. 7-8, and then blew a 4-2 lead last Thursday against the Milwaukee Brewers — which proved critical for the Dodgers in losing the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Brewers as the division leaders jostle for playoff seeding.

During the Dodgers’ 11-5 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Monday night, Díaz pitched the ninth inning and gave up three runs and four hits.

With Díaz no longer an option in save situations, left-hander Tanner Scott is set to slide into that role.

“I just wait for the phone to ring, I don’t care when,” Scott said after a four-out save Tuesday. “You get the adrenaline rush when your name’s called and just go out there and pitch.”

On Tuesday, Roberts turned to Scott to get the final out of the eighth inning, with runners on first and second in a two-run game. He induced left-handed pinch hitter Brett Sullivan to ground out to third.

Back out for the ninth he gave up a one-out double to Jake McCarthy’s and a two-out RBI single to Willi Castro. But the run was of no consequence.

“He’s been great,” Roberts said of Scott’s contributions this year, in multiple roles. “Tanner doesn’t complain. He’s always ready, wants to pitch, wants to help his teammates, his team. And certainly, given how last year went, for him to come back and right the ship, he’s been our most consistent reliever by far. I trust him, and I feel like you can use him in any situation.”

The Dodgers also recalled right-hander Emmet Sheehan on Tuesday as a multi-inning option out of the bullpen. Sheehan, optioned to triple A at the trade deadline for a reset, made two starts for Oklahoma City.

“I got the hang of it a little bit last year in the playoffs,” Sheehan said of pitching in relief. “I have the routine that I would have for starting, and that I have for coming out of the bullpen. So comfortable doing either one or whatever they want me to do.”

Ohtani may be ready for next step

Dodgers two-way player Shohei Ohtani appeared to throw two simulated innings in his bullpen session on Tuesday, for a total of about 45-50 pitches.

When Roberts asked how it went, he said Ohtani gave him a thumbs up.

Roberts did not rule out the possibility of Ohtani throwing live batting practice back in Los Angeles as his next step.

“I could see that,” Roberts said.

Serving as the designated hitter Tuesday, Ohtani hit a two-run homer in the third inning. It was his third homer in two games and his 30th of the season. He’s reached the 30 home-run mark in six straight seasons.

“You’ve got to be available, you’ve got to be a high-performer,” Roberts said of the feat. “And Shohei this series is back to being who he is. I like the at-bat quality. I like the swing decisions. And obviously he’s hitting homers out with breaking balls, fastballs, a curveball tonight. When he goes, it certainly adds a lot of energy to our offense.”

The second pitch Edwin Díaz threw Thursday night sailed above the strike zone, at about eye-height on Milwaukee’s William Contreras. It was an early indicator that the Dodgers closer was about to have a brutal ninth inning.

By the end of his third blown save in four appearances, even Díaz wasn’t sure what his role would be going forward.

“Now I’ve just got to see what they want to do,” he said after the Dodgers’ 5-4 loss to the Brewers. “I want to do the best thing for the team. At the end of the day, if they give me the ball in the ninth I will try to do my job. If they give me the ball in another inning, I will try to do my job. Got to get better, be consistent.”

Manager Dave Roberts, however, as he looked at the state of his bullpen, wasn’t ready to take the closer title from Díaz.

“Give me another option,” Roberts said. “To be quite honest, none of those guys really are throwing the baseball great. So that’s just kind of the way it is.”

The series opener between the Dodgers and Brewers, two of the top teams in the National League, saw Roki Sasaki give up just two runs over six innings despite battling command issues. It included a record-setting go-ahead home run from Max Muncy, his 131st at Dodger Stadium, breaking a tie with Eric Karros for the most all-time at Chavez Ravine.

Then Díaz, who has been working through an evolving set of issues since returning from the injured list (arthroscopic elbow surgery) a couple of weeks ago, took over with a two-run lead. And the game went sideways.

The Dodgers (73-49) fell two games back of the Brewers (75-47) and half a game behind the Braves (73-48).

“A loss is a loss, but there’s certain losses that are more costly,” Roberts said. “And when you use five relievers and you lose a game, that’s costly.”

Dodgers pitcher Edwin Díaz reacts after giving up the tying run in the ninth inning against the Brewers on Thursday.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Though Díaz’s command issues flared early, he struck out Contreras to begin the inning. Then he gave up four consecutive singles.

“I think my fastball command today — I was throwing strikes, but right in the middle,” Díaz said. “Every big league hitter can hit it right in the middle, [even if you] throw 200 miles an hour. I’ve got to get better at that.”

Milwaukee’s Joey Ortiz and David Hamilton both hit center-cut fastballs to put runners on the corners for the top of the order.

Then Jackson Chourio’s and Garrett Mitchell’s RBI singles — to cut the Dodgers lead to one run and to tie the score, respectively — came on sliders. That was the pitch Díaz struggled to get a feel for in Arizona last weekend.

“I think it was better today,” he said. “I think I made good ones. When you miss your fastball in the middle, they see better pitches.”

Díaz then struck out right-handed hitting Gary Sánchez on three pitches, but Roberts had seen enough. He turned to left-hander Alex Vesia.

With two outs and runners on first and second, Vesia got Jake Bauers to hit a ground ball to the right side of the field, but it found a hole to drive in the go-ahead run. And the Dodgers offense didn’t counter in the bottom of the ninth.

“It’s frustrating because I know my ability,” said Díaz, who has an 11.57 ERA since joining the Dodgers last offseason on a three-year, $69-million deal. “I know what I can do on the mound. To not be able to do it sucks. I’ve just got to come tomorrow and try to keep getting better.”

The Dodgers’ bullpen situation has flipped dramatically since his return from injury. Less than three weeks ago, Roberts said his high-leverage relievers made up “as big a trust tree as we’ve had in quite some time.”

When pressed Thursday on why he planned to stick with Díaz in save situations, Roberts’ tone had changed.

“Who’s the other option?” Roberts said. “You look back at the last week, and guys have struggled. … Everyone’s got a role, they all have jobs to do, and they all have to do their job. That’s it.”

One factor has been health. Brock Stewart (right shoulder discomfort) and Will Klein (right elbow loose bodies) have been placed on the IL since Roberts’ “trust tree” comments.

Then there’s the issue of performance.

Scott (2.25 ERA, 16 saves), who served as the closer in Díaz’ three-month absence, has been dealing with inconsistent velocity. But he has three straight holds. On Thursday, he faced only Christian Yelich, who hit a long fly ball into the left-field corner, but Kiké Hernández made the catch before running into the wall.

Vesia surrendered two runs in ⅔ of an inning against the Chicago Cubs on Aug. 4, but he had held opponents hitless with three walks over three appearances before facing Milwaukee.

Evan Phillips seemed to have righted the ship after a rocky return from the IL, but he gave up two earned runs in ⅓ of an inning Tuesday.

What about taking a closer-by-committee approach?

“We’ve got to get other guys on track to even have that be even a valid conversation, to be honest with you,” Roberts said.

So, Díaz will continue working to regain his effectiveness on the mound, without changing roles.

“He’s got to find his way,” Roberts said. “And he’s got to have a runway to find his way. But then it gets to a point where — I’m not there yet, but … I’m betting on the fact that the stuff will kind of right, and he’ll figure it out.”

Dodgers fall to the Brewers

From Maddie Lee: The second pitch Dodgers closer Edwin Díaz threw on Thursday night sailed above the strike zone, at about eye-height on Brewers hitter William Contreras. It was an early sign that Díaz was in for a brutal ninth inning.

By the end of his third blown save in four appearances, even Díaz wasn’t sure what his role would be going forward.

“Now I’ve just got to see what they want to do,” he said after the Dodgers’ 5-4 loss to the Brewers on Thursday. “I want to do the best thing for the team. At the end of the day, if they give me the ball in the ninth I will try to do my job. If they give me the ball in another inning, I will try to do my job. Got to get better, be consistent.”

Manager Dave Roberts, however, as he looked at the state of his bullpen as a whole, wasn’t ready to take the closer title from Díaz.

“Give me another option,” Roberts said. “…To be quite honest, none of those guys really are throwing the baseball great. So that’s just kind of the way it is.”

The series opener Thursday between the Dodgers and Brewers, two of the top teams in the National League, saw Dodgers starter Roki Sasaki battle command issues to salvage a two-run, six-inning start. It included a record-setting go-ahead home run from Max Muncy, No. 131 at Dodger Stadium, breaking a tie with Eric Karros for the most all-time.

Then Díaz, who has been working through an evolving set of issues since returning from the IL (arthroscopic elbow surgery) a couple weeks ago, took over with a two-run lead. And the game went sideways.

The Dodgers (73-49) fell to two games back of the Brewers (75-47) and half a game behind the Braves (73-48).

“A loss is a loss, but there’s certain losses that are more costly,” Roberts said. “And when you use five relievers and you lose a game, that’s costly.”

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Dodgers box score

MLB standings

Angels defeat the Rangers

Walbert Ureña gave up two hits in six innings, Mike Trout and Denzer Guzman led a 15-hit outburst with three singles and an RBI apiece, and the Angels beat the Texas Rangers 7-0 on Thursday night.

Josh Lowe added two hits and two RBIs, and Adam Frazier had two hits and an RBI for the Angels, who extended their win streak to three and had at least 10 hits in a game for the first time since July 8.

Ureña (8-8) struck out five and walked two while lowering his ERA to 2.67. The rookie right-hander has a 2.43 ERA in 18 games since May 1 and has given up no more than one run in 13 of those starts. José Fermin, Tayler Saucedo and Sammy Peralta each threw a scoreless inning to complete the five-hitter.

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Angels box score

MLB standings

Q&A about Mark Walter selling Lakers

From Bill Shaikin: The Steinbrenner family has owned the New York Yankees for 53 years. Jerry Jones has owned the Dallas Cowboys for 37 years. The Buss family owned the Lakers for 46 years.

These trophy assets are few and far between. Walter had agreed to sell the Lakers after less than one year of ownership — and not through a comprehensive bidding process, but to an inquiring caller during the weekend?

“This has more red flags than a May Day parade,” an industry insider said, speaking on condition of anonymity so as not to jeopardize his professional relationships.

The deal, which valued the Lakers at $12.5 billion, was motivated by the spiraling price for an NBA expansion team in Las Vegas, according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne. After all, if Iger and Kushner might have to pay $10 billion for a startup team, why not call and see if Walter might accept a bit more for one of the marquee franchises in American sports?

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Lakers again have most nationally televised games on their schedule

Chargers preseason Game 1 takeaways

From Sam Farmer: Chargers running back Amar Johnson doesn’t have a ton of NFL experience, but he knows to make every moment count.

“You don’t get the most opportunities at practice, so you’ve got to maximize the opportunities that you do get,” said Johnson, who had two touchdowns and a successful conversion run Thursday in a 27-7 victory over the Houston Texans in a preseason opener.

“Every game you kind of hit the reset button like, yeah, I did something this week, but the next game is a new week.”

Jim Harbaugh said the urgency is palpable, especially for players looking to secure one of the last few roster spots.

“That’s why you play like your football life is at stake,” the Chargers coach said. “Because it kind of is.”

Johnson had a seven-yard touchdown run in the first half, then turned a short reception into a 55-yard gain in the second. He was tackled a yard short of the end zone. He smiled when asked about that, knowing he likely was going to take a ribbing from teammates.

“I had to punch it in one more time,” he said. And he did punch it in, scoring from the one on the following play.

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Cameron Brink injured in Sparks’ loss

Sabrina Ionescu scored 20 points and the New York Liberty avoided one of the biggest collapses in WNBA history, holding off the Sparks 85-81 on Thursday night.

New York (21-14) led 69-41 early in the fourth quarter and looked poised to cruise to an easy victory when the Sparks scored 21 straight points to get within striking distance.

The Sparks (12-21) only trailed 82-79 with 26.6 seconds left and were in position to match the Chicago Sky for the biggest comeback in league history. The Sky rallied from 28-down to beat Las Vegas in 2022. Rae Burrell got the Sparks within one on a reverse layup with 22 seconds left. Ionescu hit two free throws with 14.8 remaining to restore the three-point advantage.

The Sparks also lost Cameron Brink earlier in the fourth quarter. She helped key the game-changing run, drawing an offensive foul on Breanna Stewart. Brink was down on the floor for a few minutes before being helped to the locker room with a towel over her head. She took a shot to the stomach area from Stewart to get the offensive foul called. A few minutes earlier Brink and Burrell banged heads.

Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said Brink was being evaluated by doctors after a “brutal hit to the ribs”, but didn’t have an update other than that.

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Sparks box score

WNBA standings

This day in sports history

1903 — Jim Jeffries knocks out Jim Corbett in the 10th round to retain his world heavyweight title in San Francisco.

1936 — In Berlin, the U.S. wins the first Olympic basketball gold medal with a 19-8 win over Canada. The game is played outdoors on a dirt court in a driving rain. Joe Fortenberry leads the U.S. with seven points. James Naismith, the inventor of the game, presents the medals.

1959 — The formation of the American Football League is announced in Chicago. Play will begin in 1960 with franchises in six cities with the probability of adding two more teams.

1977 — Lanny Wadkins beats Gene Littler on the third hole of sudden death to take the PGA Championship.

1977 — The Cosmos, led by Pele, play before a Meadowlands crowd of 77,961 in East Rutherford, N.J., the most to see a soccer game in the U.S. The Cosmos beat the Fort Lauderdale Strikers 8-3 in an NASL quarterfinal playoff game.

1994 — Nick Price wins the PGA Championship, finishing at 11-under 269 for 72 holes, six strokes ahead of Corey Pavin. It is the lowest stroke total in an American major championship.

2005 — The U.S. 4×400 relay team, anchored by Jeremy Wariner, races to a record 14th gold medal for the United States at the field world championships.

2011 — Keegan Bradley wins the PGA Championship after trailing by five shots with three holes and then defeating Jason Dufner in a three-hole playoff. Bradley becomes the third player in at least 100 years to win a major championship in his first try.

2016 — South Africa’s Wayde van Niekerk breaks Michael Johnson’s 17-year-old world record in the 400-meter final in Rio de Janeiro. Usain Bolt becomes the first to capture three straight 100-meter titles at the Olympics. He finishes in 9.81 — 0.08 seconds ahead of Justin Gatlin.

2019 — French woman Stephanie Frappart is the first woman to referee a major match in a European men’s tournament. UEFA Super Cup, Chelsea vs. Liverpool in Istanbul.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1919 — Chicago’s Happy Felsch tied the major-league record with four outfield assists in a game. The White Sox still lost to the Boston Red Sox 15-6.

1932 — Brooklyn’s John Quinn, 49, became the oldest pitcher to win a major league game. Quinn pitched the last two innings of a 2-1, 10-inning win over the New York Giants.

1933 — Jimmie Foxx of the Philadelphia Athletics hit for the cycle and drove in nine runs in an 11-5 win over the Cleveland Indians. The nine RBIs set an American League record for one game, breaking the 22-year-old mark set by Topsy Hartzell of the New York Highlanders.

1958 — Vic Power of the Cleveland Indians stole home twice, in the eighth and 10th innings, in a 10-9 win over Detroit. He had only three steals all year.

1960 — Bill White of the St. Louis Cardinals hit for the cycle in a 9-4 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates in the opening game of a doubleheader.

1971 — Bob Gibson of St. Louis pitched a no-hitter, blanking the Pittsburgh Pirates 11-0.

1987 — Oakland’s Mark McGwire set a major league rookie record with his 39th homer of the season to help the A’s to a 7-6, 12-inning victory over the Angels.

1998 — Baltimore’s Chris Hoiles became the ninth major leaguer and first catcher to hit two grand slams in one game.

2002 — Trevor Hoffman became the first reliever in major league history to have 30 or more saves in eight straight seasons in San Diego’s 6-2 win over the New York Mets.

2007 — Atlanta manager Bobby Cox was ejected after the fifth inning for arguing a called third strike in the Braves’ 5-4 victory over San Francisco. It was his 132nd ejection, breaking the mark set by Hall of Famer John McGraw.

2009 — Felix Pie became the fourth player in Orioles history to hit for the cycle, and Baltimore tied club records for extra-base hits and doubles in a 16-6 rout of the Angels.

2011 — Albert Pujols hit the longest home run at 6-year-old Busch Stadium in the St. Louis Cardinals’ 6-2 win over Colorado. Pujols’ two-run drive in the first inning was estimated at 465 feet.

2013 — Alfonso Soriano homered twice for the second straight night and drove in a career-high seven runs, giving him 13 RBIs in two games while powering the New York Yankees to an 11-3 victory over the Angels.

2015 — Matt Kemp hit a triple in the ninth for the first cycle in the history of the San Diego Padres, who beat the Colorado Rockies 9-5.

2018 — Atlanta’s Ronald Acuna Jr., 20, became the youngest major leaguer to homer in five straight games.

2021 — Arizona Diamondbacks Tyler Gilbert became the fourth pitcher and first in 68 years to throw a no-hitter in his initial big league start, leading Arizona over the San Diego Padres 7-0 with the record-tying eighth no-hitter of the season.

2024 — With a long ball off Chad Kuhl in the 8th inning, Aaron Judge reaches 300 home runs, doing so in fewer games (955) and at-bats (3,431) than anyone before him. The homer follows a rare intentional walk issued to Juan Soto and is part of an emphatic 10-2 win by the Yankees over the White Sox.

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

Put away the trumpets. Pack them up, put them in the attic, let them collect some dust.

Nobody wants to hear them.

Nobody wants to be subjected to one more triggering, off-key note of an Edwin Díaz dirge. Not anytime soon, not in any high-leverage moments for the foreseeable future.

Not after the Dodgers’ closer blew another save Thursday, his third in four appearances.

Not after another Díaz disaster class. This time, after he trotted in to Timmy Trumpet’s “Narco” as usual, he gave up four consecutive hits and coughed up a two-run lead before getting yanked in a 5-4 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers at Dodger Stadium. It spoiled Max Muncy’s pinch-hit home run in the sixth inning that staked Díaz to a 4-2 lead.

Díaz was the high-profile free agent the Dodgers signed to lock down the ninth inning for the next three seasons, inking him to a $69-million deal to do it, a record for relievers.

He has an ERA of 11.57 for the season. And in the 5⅔ innings since returning from a procedure to remove “loose bodies” in his right elbow, he has given up 12 hits and three walks. On Thursday, he left everybody in the stands rooting for the Dodgers up in arms, booing.

Those folks might still be booing when they hear what Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said saltily postgame: “Give me another option … I can’t just say change him to low-leverage. I have to have options.”

So plan a search party, do it by committee.

Or give the ball back to Tanner Scott. He isn’t perfect, but has 16 saves and was serviceable filling in for Díaz before he was activated off the injured list on July 29.

Just don’t give the ball to Díaz.

Not while the 32-year-old right-hander is flailing. Not while he’s flustered and frustrated — which you can’t spell without rust, though even Roberts admitted, “I don’t know how long you can use the rust thing, which I’ve certainly used.”

Go with anyone but Díaz, who has been the biggest disappointment of this Dodgers’ trek toward what they hope is a three-peat.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, center, pulls closer Edwin Díaz from the game in the ninth inning Thursday against Milwaukee.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

He’s not the only disappointment: Mookie Betts is hitting worse than ever before in his career while another newcomer, $240-million man Kyle Tucker, is hitting just .239 with 11 home runs. Fittingly, he flew out for the final out and went 0 for 4 on Thursday.

But Díaz was heralded as the best reliever on the free-agent market when the Dodgers signed him.

Instead, he’s making a run at Worst Reliever in the Game.

His slider hasn’t been sliding. He’s been consistently inconsistent. His location has been spotty — or right down the middle, and as he showed and told Thursday: “I was throwing my fastball right in the middle. When you miss in the middle, you pay.”

And, like Roberts, Díaz doesn’t know the answer, just that “I just gotta sit down with the pitching coaches to see what I’m missing and what they say to see if we can fix it and keep working hard.”

In a short-sleeved T-shirt and shorts, he stood with his hands on his hips and faced the music — and the facts, saying he’s ready to relinquish his closer role if Roberts wants to try another option.

“I just gotta see what they wanna do,” Díaz said. “I wanna do the best thing for the team. At the end of the day, if they give me the ball in the ninth I will try to do my job. If they give me the ball in another inning, I will try to do my job.”

Roberts would prefer he do the job for which he’s being paid so richly: “Everyone’s got a role, they all have jobs to do, and they all have to do their job. That’s it.”

But Díaz hasn’t been up to the job. He had a 10.50 ERA in seven shaky appearances before he went on the IL on April 20.

It can seem like the Dodgers print money with all their high-priced players, but they might as well be lighting it on fire with the relievers they’ve brought in.

For them, the concept of the high-priced reliever should be an oxymoron. Because being fooled once is a shame; being fooled twice — that’s moronic.

In 2025, they signed Scott — then considered perhaps the best relief pitcher on the free-agent market — to a four-year, $72-million contract.

And he blew his opportunities like a trumpet too, ending last season with a 4.74 ERA (second-worst of his career) and 1.263 WHIP with 60 strikeouts through 57 innings. He didn’t pitch for the Dodgers in the playoffs.

Now they’ve got the Díaz debacle to deal with before the postseason, when it looks like the Dodgers, if they don’t have their big-name closer to rely on, will again be forced to find other options.

PHOENIX — Dodgers reliever Jack Dreyer let loose a shout, balling his hands into fists as he released the tension of the last several minutes — or, from a team perspective, over a week.

The Dodgers had just pulled off a 2-1 win against the Diamondbacks in the 10th inning, and, mercifully, snapped a seven-game losing streak. It was their longest such streak since July 2025. They haven’t had a losing streak longer than seven games since September 2017 (11).

“I think that was the most emotion I’ve ever showed,” said Dreyer, who picked up his first save of the season. “It was nice because I knew I wouldn’t go back out for the next inning. … The game was over. So kind of let the emotions take over for a little bit.”

Before this latest streak, the Dodgers had done an admirable job of not piling up losses. They hadn’t lost more than four straight games until this week. But the Dodgers were swept in two straight series, against the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago Cubs heading into the weekend against Arizona (62-56).

The Dodgers’ National League West lead over the second-place Diamondbacks moved up to 8½ games.

Many of the Dodgers’ recent problems still flared. The offense is slumping, and the back end of the bullpen has been shaky. But at least the streak was finally over.

“Man, that was a tough one,” manager Dave Roberts said. “We’ll take it.”

The Dodgers’ offense has been all but silenced in two games against Arizona. A day after Merrill Kelly kept the Dodgers hitless through his first five innings, Arizona starter Brandon Pfaadt gave up only a pair of infield hits to Andy Pages through seven innings.

“I think each individual, there’s a different component,” Roberts said. “But I think collectively, we just gotta come together. We’re just better than this. As we always say, it’s not a try league. We gotta get it done. We gotta be better, and again, to score one or two runs to win, it’s just a hard quality of life. I understand hitting is hard. I did it, but we’ve got a lot of talent in the room.”

Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto was nearly as effective, holding the Diamondbacks to three hits. But he wasn’t as efficient and exited with two outs in the sixth inning, his pitch count up to 107.

The game remained scoreless until Kyle Tucker, whose bat has been hot this road trip, hit a solo home run to right field off Diamondbacks reliever Jonathan Loáisiga in the eighth.

Teoscar Hernández and Hunter Feduccia followed with singles, but both were left stranded when Shohei Ohtani and Pages struck out.

Dodgers reliever Kyle Hurt retired the first two batters in the eighth before giving up a single and back-to-back walks to load the bases. Tanner Scott replaced him and got out of the jam by inducing Waldschmidt to fly out.

In the ninth, Díaz, who gave up a walk-off home run Friday, blew it again, but he at least managed to keep the score tied.

Díaz gave up back-to-back triples to Geraldo Perdomo and Corbin Carroll to tie the score. He retired three of the next four batters, with an intentional walk in between, to send the game into extra innings.

“You saw once they scored the run, man on third base, nobody out, you saw the intensity pick up, the stuff picked up,” Roberts said. “The fastball got better. The slider got better. Even talking to him after the game, that’s how we have to be from the first pitch. That was the first game I saw this year where he had some real intensity.”

Tucker served as the Dodgers’ automatic runner on second base to start the 10th inning, and with two outs, he advanced to third base on a wild pitch, as Feduccia took first on a walk.

That put runners on the corners for Ohtani. He hit a sharp groundball to the right of Diamondbacks first baseman Tim Tawa, who made a diving stop. But the ball rolled away from him as he went to flip to first, giving Ohtani time to reach first and Tucker time to score the go-ahead run.

“I guess that was the game right there,” Tucker said. “So it was a great at-bat out of him and being able to get down the line was huge.”

Clinging to a narrow lead, the Dodgers turned to Dreyer. He struck out Tawa. And then he got James McCann to hit a soft grounder up the middle, but McCann beat second baseman Tommy Edman’s throw to first by a split second.

With runners on the corners, Waldschmidt hit a bouncing comebacker that Dreyer snagged and threw to second before Edman quickly threw to Freddie Freeman to end the game.

“It helps when you have some of the best defensive players in the game behind you,” Dreyer said. “I knew that all I needed to do was get the ball to Tommy and he would take care of the rest. I don’t know if I had too much velo on the throw to him, but once it got to him, he made the play.

“That was fun to watch.”

Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani hits an RBI single in the 10th inning against the Diamondbacks on Saturday.

(Rick Scuteri / Associated Press)

Ohtani plays catch

Fans consolidated in the right field stands as Ohtani warmed up by throwing a weighted plyo ball against the back wall of the visitor’s bullpen and then returned to the outfield to play catch.

It was the first time Ohtani, who threw on flat ground from about 90 feet, has been spotted playing catch before a game since July 22, when he threw a 31-pitch bullpen in Philadelphia. According to the team, he has been keeping his arm moving with plyo ball drills.

Ohtani declined to comment through a team representative.

“It’s sort of Shohei and the training staff driving it, more Shohei,” Roberts said of Ohtani’s throwing schedule. “So I don’t know if he’s going to come back out there [Sunday] and pick up a baseball, or if it’s going to be Monday, but I do think that him getting out there and playing catch is a step in the right direction.”

Edwin Díaz insists he did nothing wrong.

After facing live batters for the first time Sunday since undergoing elbow surgery in April, the Dodgers’ reliever pushed back against allegations linking him to illegal cockfighting in Puerto Rico.

“I’ve been doing that before because, like the story said, that’s legal in Puerto Rico,” Díaz said.

USA Today published a story in May highlighting social media posts advertising cockfighting tournaments that picture Díaz in his Dodgers uniform. The story also referenced a story in El Nuevo Día, the largest circulating newspaper in Puerto Rico, quoting Díaz.

No one from Major League Baseball has reached out to Díaz about a possible suspension, he said.

“They didn’t reach out to me because I wasn’t doing anything illegal,” Díaz said.

In 2019, a federal law banning cockfighting took effect in Puerto Rico. Before the law, the blood sport had been made illegal in all 50 states, but not U.S. territories. Many Puerto Ricans saw the ban as an attack on their culture and vowed to defy the law.

Puerto Rico responded by passing a law saying that it’s legal to host cockfights as long as people don’t export or import the animals or any goods or services related to cockfighting. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2021 declined to hear a challenge to the federal law brought by a group that argued Congress exceeded its power by applying the ban to Puerto Rico.

Anyone found guilty of taking part in cockfighting faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Spectators could receive a one-year prison sentence.

Still, some Puerto Ricans such as Díaz view the topic as part of the island’s history, initially brought to the Caribbean by 16th-century Spaniards when the island was first colonized.

“It’s a pastime I’ve followed since I was a child,” Díaz told El Nuevo Día in March. “It’s legal in Puerto Rico, thank God. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here.”

Diaz is on track to return to the Dodgers after the All-Star break, although his exact return date remains unclear. His fastball felt good, so locating his slider was the next step toward his return.

Times staff writer Hannah Fry contributed to this report.