The Los Angeles Dodgers are officially in unfamiliar territory. Monday night’s 9–5 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks marked their fourth consecutive defeat, exposing a troubling combination of shaky pitching, poor defense, and rising frustration from fans and players alike.
The collapse began last week with a surprising sweep by the last-place Angels and continued Monday at Chavez Ravine, where the Diamondbacks raced to a 7–0 lead by the third inning. While solo home runs from Mookie Betts and Shohei Ohtani offered brief sparks, the Dodgers never recovered—and were loudly booed as the game slipped away.
Los Angeles Dodgers’ Slide Continues as Pitching, Defense Falter in Fourth Straight Loss
“It’s hard to start games behind before you take an at-bat,” manager Dave Roberts told The Los Angeles Times’ Jack Harris. “We’ve given up runs in the first inning. We got to put up that zero and kind of get a chance to get the game going.”
It wasn’t just the pitching that failed. The Dodgers’ defensive miscues helped fuel Arizona’s early surge. In the first inning, center fielder Hyeseong Kim lost a routine fly ball in the twilight, resulting in a two-run double. The next frame, Max Muncy spiked a throw to first on a routine grounder, allowing another preventable run—though official scoring generously ruled both errors as hits.
The sloppiness compounded quickly. Left-handed opener Jack Dreyer followed Muncy’s miscue with a wild pitch to the backstop, advancing the runner who later scored on a sacrifice fly. Landon Knack entered in the third and promptly surrendered two two-run homers: one on a slider to Lourdes Gurriel Jr., and another on an inside fastball to Gabriel Moreno.
Despite the loss, Betts remained measured.
“You go through certain situations like this, it’s just tough to find a way to get back healthy and get our guys back out there,” he said. “But we’re battling with what we got.”
The Dodgers’ team ERA has now ballooned to 4.28, ranking 22nd in the majors. With Yoshinobu Yamamoto set to start Tuesday night, Los Angeles will look to stop the bleeding—but as the mistakes pile up, the urgency is growing fast.