PHOENIX –– There are no-doubters. And then there are the kind of thunderous swings Ketel Marte uncorked in the bottom of the ninth inning on Thursday night.
After leading by two runs entering the eighth inning, the Dodgers got walked off by the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-2 on Thursday night.
The fatal blow: A first-pitch fastball from Tanner Scott that Marte absolutely crushed deep to left.
The ball sailed 431 feet, leaving Marte’s bat at a scorching 113 mph.
It was the culminating blow in a bullpen implosion from the Dodgers, who squandered a 2-0 lead by allowing three runs over the final two innings.
Will Klein was at fault for blowing the lead, making a mess of an eighth inning that began with a leadoff home run from Corbin Carroll. After that, Klein walked Gabriel Moreno, then gave up a one-out single to Ryan Waldschmidt.
Alex Vesia tried to come in and limit the damage, but Geraldo Perdomo got him with a base hit to center that tied the score.
The Dodgers had initially taken the lead Thursday in the most painful of ways.
With two outs in the fifth inning, Max Muncy hit a ground ball up the line that Arizona first baseman Ildemaro Vargas fielded directly behind the bag. What ensued next was a brutal head-on collision.
Vargas tried to quickly record the out himself, racing back toward first. Muncy came barreling directly at him.
Muncy got there first by half a step, reaching safely for an infield single.
But neither player had time to avoid the other, sending them crashing into each and flying to the ground.
They each remained down for several minutes before exiting. The Dodgers later announced that Muncy had shortness of breath and was being evaluated for a concussion.
The good news: The Dodgers capitalized on Muncy’s effort to get to first safely.
The team’s next batter, Ryan Ward, laced a line drive to right field that Corbin Carroll misplayed and allowed to sail over his head, scoring pinch-runner Santiago Espinal from first. Dalton Rushing followed with a bloop single to center, giving starting pitcher Justin Wrobleski a 2-0 lead in his scoreless sixth inning start.
Alas, after Klein’s eighth-inning stumble, the Dodgers couldn’t recover.
Will Smith hit a double with two outs in the ninth, but was left stranded when Espinal struck out against Dbacks closer Paul Sewald.
Scott, who is effectively serving as the Dodgers’ closer in the wake of Edwin Díaz’s injury, couldn’t get the game to extras, helplessly turning to watch Marte’s blast fly out of the yard as the Dbacks split this four-game series.
Who’s hot
Wrobleski continued his breakout 2026 season, producing his fourth start of at least six scoreless innings to lower his ERA to 2.62.
For a second-straight outing, the left-hander’s fastball played up, averaging 95.6 mph. And while he only had four strikeouts –– returning to a pitch-to-contact approach after his season-high nine Ks last week –– he was effective at limiting damage and wiggling out of jams, stranding a one-out double from Corbin Carroll in the first inning and runners at the corners following a pair of singles in the third.
Wrobleski’s biggest escape came at the end of the night, after a two-out double from Ryan Waldschmidt in the sixth inning put two runners in scoring position.
He got Pavin Smith to ground out; after catcher Dalton Rushing won back-to-back ABS challenges to turn a 2-0 count into an 0-2 hole.
Who’s not
With Shohei Ohtani getting the day off following his two-way masterpiece on Wednesday, Mookie Betts was bumped up to the leadoff spot in the batting order.
The move, however, did little to snap what is quickly becoming a troubling, prolonged slump.
Betts went 0-for-4 in the defeat, dropping his batting average this season to .183.
Up next
The Dodgers return home for a weekend series against the Angels, starting on Friday night when Roki Sasaki (3-3, 4.59 ERA) will face left-hander Reid Detmers (2-5, 4.63 ERA).
