Edwin Díaz meltdown blows Dodgers lead in loss to

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

By the end of his third blown save in 4 appearances, even Díaz wasn’t sure what his function can be going ahead.

“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 regarded at the state of his bullpen, wasn’t prepared to take the nearer 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 sequence opener between the Dodgers and Brewers, two of the top groups in the National League, noticed Roki Sasaki give up just two runs over six innings despite battling command points. 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 at Chavez Ravine.

Then Díaz, who has been working through an evolving set of points since returning from the injured record (arthroscopic elbow surgical procedure) a couple weeks in the past, took over with a two-run lead. And the sport went sideways.

The Dodgers (73-49) fell two video games back of the Brewers (75-47) and half a sport 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.”

Though Díaz’s command points flared early, he struck out Contreras to start the inning. Then he gave up 4 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 rating, respectively — got here on sliders. That was the pitch Díaz struggled to get a really 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 bought Jake Bauers to hit a ground ball to the best aspect of the sector, but it discovered a gap to drive in the go-ahead run. And the Dodgers offense didn’t counter in the underside of the ninth.

“It’s frustrating because I know my ability,” said Díaz, who has an 11.57 ERA since becoming a member of 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 scenario has flipped dramatically since his return from injury. Less than three weeks in the past, 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 deliberate to stick with Díaz in save conditions, Roberts’ tone had modified.

“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 issue has been health. Brock Stewart (proper shoulder discomfort) and Will Klein (proper elbow unfastened our bodies) have been positioned on the IL since Roberts’ “trust tree” feedback.

Then there’s the issue of efficiency.

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

Evan Phillips appeared 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 strategy?

“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 altering 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.”