Dodgers manager: ‘We’re looking forward’ to playing the Diamondbacks

PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks’ final series against the Los Angeles Dodgers of the 2026 season is here, and it is a matchup the latter is “looking forward to” after the former’s impressive sweep at Chavez Ravine last month.

The two National League West foes are 5-5 against one another so far:

• Dodgers’ three-game sweep in L.A. to open the season
• Four-game series split at Chase Field
• Diamondbacks’ three-game sweep in L.A. entering the All-Star break

That last series, which ended the “first half,” proved to be a massive success for the Diamondbacks and left the Dodgers scratching their heads. Arizona outscored Los Angeles 23-8, playing cleaner and more dynamic baseball with a stellar effort from the bottom of the lineup and bullpen.

The D-backs had been having trouble getting away from the .500 mark, and that series began a more consistent stretch of winning that eventually propelled the them into a National League Wild Card spot.

“They put it on us pretty good right before the break,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters on Wednesday. “So I would just say we’re looking forward to them to playing them and taking care of business.

“We’ve lost six straight, we’ve got to flush it. And this is another team that’s playing for something in the Diamondbacks. And they’re playing decent baseball. So we got to put forth our best.”

The last time Arizona won a season series against Los Angeles was back in 2018.

Los Angeles made the biggest headlines of the trade deadline by acquiring two-time American League Cy Young award winner Tarik Skubal to bolster their status as World Series favorites, stoking more flames on the competitive balance debates within the baseball community. Instead of plowing over everyone since then, however, the Dodgers have gone through a rough patch.

They have suffered sweeps at the hands of the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs, a season-long losing streak, falling back to the third division leader in the NL. Shohei Ohtani (nine-game hitting streak) and Freddie Freeman (15-game hitting streak) have been on fire, but the bullpen has struggled to limit runs in the final three innings.

The top two seeds in each league receive a bye through the Wild Card Series, so even if Los Angeles’ NL West lead looks comfortable, there is urgency afoot.

Which begs the question: Are the D-backs catching the Dodgers in a vulnerable state or a motivated one?

The Diamondbacks, meanwhile, are coming off a four-game series split against the San Diego Padres and are 8.5 games behind the Dodgers. Arizona is one game up on San Diego for the final Wild Card spot, meaning if the postseason started on Friday, the D-backs would face the Dodgers in the opening round:

Here's how things would look if the postseason started today 👀

Will your favorite team be playing in October? pic.twitter.com/mhkc0reRyf

— MLB (@MLB) August 7, 2026

They need franchise faces Corbin Carroll and Ketel Marte to snap back into their dominant forms (.666 and .515 OPS the last 30 days, respectively), as the lineup depth has carried the load.

The Diamondbacks and Dodgers have played each other closely over the past four seasons.

Arizona is 25-27 in the matchup since the start of 2023, including the postseason. That is the best record another NL West team has against the Dodgers in that span. The most recent series the Dodgers played at Chase Field concluded with a Marte walk-off home run.

Dodgers at Diamondbacks probable starters

(Photo by Joe Puetz/Getty Images)

Friday: RHP Roki Sasaki (5-5, 4.64 ERA, 101 SO) vs. RHP Merrill Kelly (8-9, 5.04 ERA, 76 SO)

Saturday: RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto (11-7, 2.76 ERA, 121 SO) vs. RHP Brandon Pfaadt (6-1, 3.66 ERA, 52 SO)

Sunday: LHP Justin Wrobleski (11-3, 3.31 ERA, 91 SO) vs. LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (10-4, 2.71 ERA, 92 SO)

With their two rookies having started the previous games, Arizona will have experience on the mound against Los Angeles. Rodriguez and Pfaadt combined for 11.2 innings and four earned runs (3.09 ERA) during the last series at Dodger Stadium. Oddly, Kelly has only faced the Dodgers once since 2023.

First pitch on Friday night is at 6:40 p.m. MST on 98.7 and the Arizona Sports app. 

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