Dodgers drop third straight series with loss to D-Backs

PHOENIX — The Dodgers arrived at Chase Field hoping to salvage something from a miserable road trip.

Instead, they left Arizona with another loss, another series defeat and even more questions about an offense that has gone ice cold.

The Dodgers fell 4-2 to the Diamondbacks on Sunday, finishing a 1-5 road trip with seven runs scored across three games in Arizona. They have now lost three consecutive series for the first time this season and are 70-48 heading back to Los Angeles.

It was another frustrating afternoon for a team that has struggled to consistently generate offense, and it started with the pitching putting them in an early hole.

Justin Wrobleski lasted just 3⅓ innings, his shortest start of the season. The Diamondbacks got to him immediately, with Ketel Marte launching a two-run homer in the first inning to put the D-Backs ahead.

Wrobleski never settled in.

He allowed six hits, four runs, three earned, and three walks while striking out three. He threw 76 pitches, 45 for strikes, and surrendered another home run along the way.

That gives Wrobleski nine home runs allowed over his last three starts.

His final line: 3 1⁄3 innings, six hits, four runs, three walks, three strikeouts and one home run.

The Dodgers' bullpen, however, did everything it could to keep the game within reach.

The Dodgers relievers combined for 4⅔ scoreless innings after Wrobleski departed. They gave the Dodgers every opportunity to mount a comeback.

The problem was the offense couldn't capitalize.

Facing Eduardo Rodríguez certainly didn't make things easier.

Rodríguez has been a thorn in the Dodgers' side all season, and Sunday was no different. In four starts against the Dodgers this year, he has now thrown 24 innings while allowing 21 hits, six runs and five earned runs, with six walks and 22 strikeouts, and a 1.88 ERA.

On Sunday, he held the Dodgers to just two runs over seven innings.

The Dodgers finally broke through in the third when Andy Pages doubled home the Dodgers' first run of the afternoon. The RBI was Pages' 76th of the season.

Then, with two outs in the sixth, Kyle Tucker provided another spark.

Tucker lined an RBI triple that scored Freddie Freeman, cutting Arizona's lead to 4-2. It was Tucker's third triple of the season and gave the Dodgers a chance to turn the game around.

They never got the big hit.

Those two runs were all the Dodgers could muster, extending an increasingly concerning offensive slump.

After eight losses in their last nine games, the Dodgers now head home with a chance to reset. They begin a seven-game homestand Monday, opening a series against the Kansas City Royals before welcoming the Milwaukee Brewers to Los Angeles.

For a team that has spent much of the season atop the National League, the timing couldn't be better.

The Dodgers need their offense to wake up, and quickly.