Edwin Díaz Blows Two-Run Save as Brewers Beat Dodgers 5-4 in Ninth-Inning Rally

On Thursday, August 13, 2026, Edwin Díaz surrendered four straight singles in the ninth inning and blew a two-run save, sending the Milwaukee Brewers to a 5-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the series opener at Dodger Stadium. The collapse cost Roki Sasaki a chance at his sixth win of the season and drew boos from the home crowd as the majors’ highest-paid closer took his fourth blown save of 2026.

Milwaukee entered the ninth trailing 4-2 after Max Muncy had broken the game open with a three-run homer in the sixth. Díaz struck out William Contreras to open the frame, but the rally started immediately: Joey Ortiz singled, David Hamilton singled, and Jackson Chourio lined an RBI single to make it 4-3. Garrett Mitchell followed with another single that scored Hamilton and tied the game at 4-4.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts pulled Díaz with runners at first and second and two outs, turning to Alex Vesia to face Jake Bauers. Vesia got ahead 0-2 with high fastballs, then threw a slider that Bauers — a Huntington Beach, California native — punched through the right side for the go-ahead single. Chourio scored from second, and Milwaukee had a 5-4 lead it would not surrender.

Editor’s note: This article draws on game coverage from The Associated Press, CBS Sports, MLB.com, and WTMJ, August 13–14, 2026.

Match at a glance

Detail	Information
Date	Thursday, August 13, 2026
Venue	Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, CA
Series	Four-game set — Game 1
Final score	Brewers 5, Dodgers 4
Dodgers starter	Roki Sasaki — 6.0 IP, 2 ER
Brewers starter	Spencer Drohan — 5.1 IP, 3 ER
Decisive frame	Top 9th — Milwaukee scored 3 runs
Win / Loss / Save	DL Hall (W, 2-0) / Edwin Díaz (L, 2-2; BS, 4) / Trevor Megill (S, 22)

The Brewers improved to 75-47 and remained alone atop the National League standings. The Dodgers fell to 73-49 in a matchup between two of the league’s best records.

How the game unfolded

Early innings: Sasaki and Drohan trade traffic

Sasaki worked six innings on 101 pitches (54 strikes) and allowed only four hits, but five walks kept Milwaukee in every at-bat. His roughest stretch came in the fourth, when he loaded the bases with no outs — walking Andrew Vaughn after a Gary Sánchez single, then allowing a Christian Yelich single to fill the bags.

Sasaki struck out Contreras, but walked Joey Ortiz to force in a run and walked David Hamilton to force in another, tying the game 2-2. He escaped further damage by striking out Chourio to end the inning. From there, Sasaki put up zeroes in the fifth and sixth while the Dodgers’ offense finally broke through.

Drohan pitched into the sixth for Milwaukee but was charged with three runs after Andrés Senzatela allowed Muncy’s homer in relief.

Sixth inning: Muncy flips the game

The Dodgers had scratched across a run in the fifth on a Ben Rortvedt RBI single. In the sixth, Tommy Edman walked and stole second, Freddie Freeman walked, and Teoscar Hernández singled to load the bases with one out.

Max Muncy pinch-hit for Miguel Rojas and launched a three-run homer to right — his 22nd of the season and a blast that gave Los Angeles a 4-2 lead.

Through 8 innings	Score
Brewers runs	2
Dodgers runs	4
Hits — MIL / LAD	6 / 4

Jack Dreyer, Edgardo Henriquez, and Tanner Scott held Milwaukee scoreless through the middle frames, setting up Díaz’s save opportunity — and the ninth-inning storm that followed.

The ninth-inning collapse

Díaz entered protecting a two-run lead with the heart of the Brewers’ order due up. His first batter, Contreras, went down on strikes. What happened next unfolded in four consecutive singles:

Sequence	Result
Joey Ortiz single	Runner on first
David Hamilton single	Runners on first and second
Jackson Chourio RBI single	4-3, runners on first and second
Garrett Mitchell RBI single	4-4, runners on first and second

Roberts removed Díaz after two-thirds of an inning (24 pitches, 16 strikes). Díaz was charged with three runs on four hits, took the loss, and recorded his fourth blown save — his third in four appearances, with his season ERA rising to 11.57.

Vesia inherited a two-out, two-on jam against Bauers. After building a two-strike count with elevated fastballs, he opted for a slider. Bauers lined it through the right side, scoring Chourio from second for a 5-4 Brewers lead.

DL Hall had thrown two scoreless innings in relief for Milwaukee, and Trevor Megill closed with a perfect ninth for his 22nd save.

Standout performances

Player	Line / moment
Jake Bauers	Go-ahead RBI single in the 9th; 1-for-4
Jackson Chourio	RBI single in the 9th; scored winning run
Garrett Mitchell	Tying RBI single in the 9th
Max Muncy	3-run HR in the 6th (22nd of season)
Roki Sasaki	6.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 BB — no decision
DL Hall	2.0 IP, 0 R, 3 SO — win
Edwin Díaz	0.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R — blown save, loss

Sasaki’s line — six innings, two earned runs — ordinarily would have positioned him for a victory. Instead, the Japanese right-hander remained stuck on five wins as the bullpen unraveled behind him. Dodgers fans who had cheered Muncy’s sixth-inning heroics turned on Díaz as he left the mound, a familiar scene in a season where the closer’s late-inning results have swung wildly.

What it means for both clubs

Milwaukee’s rally extended a strong road trip narrative: the Brewers have been among the NL’s most consistent teams in 2026, and Thursday’s comeback kept them alone in first place in the league standings heading into the rest of the four-game set.

For Los Angeles, the loss underscored a recurring August headache. Díaz signed the largest reliever contract in baseball history, and his recent stretch — blown saves in three of his last four outings — has turned high-leverage innings into liability questions at the worst time of the season. Roberts will face renewed scrutiny over whether Díaz should remain the automatic ninth-inning choice while Sasaki and the rotation try to stabilize the middle of the staff.

The series continues at Dodger Stadium with Game 2 on Friday, August 14, 2026.

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Discussion

Late-inning leads at Dodger Stadium rarely feel safe when the opposing bullpen is vulnerable — and Thursday night added another chapter to Edwin Díaz’s turbulent 2026.

1. Díaz struck out the first batter of the ninth, then allowed four straight singles. Is this a short-term slump for a proven closer, or a sign Roberts should rethink the ninth-inning role down the stretch?

2. Sasaki pitched six innings with only four hits allowed but walked five and lost a win when the bullpen collapsed. How much of Thursday’s result falls on his command issues versus the relievers behind him?

Share where you think the Dodgers’ bullpen ranks among their biggest obstacles to a deep October run — and whether Bauers’ hometown single felt like a turning point in the NL race.

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