None of that has stopped this series from being a dogfight. Every game so far has been decided by one or two runs, and Saturday's needed extra innings before L.A. snapped a four-game skid. Shohei Ohtani and the middle of the Dodgers order have been quiet by their standards for weeks now, while Arizona is scrapping for every inch of the wild-card picture and won't get a better spot than a get-well game against a taxed Dodgers pen.
The Dodgers arrived in Phoenix in the middle of their worst stretch of the season, having been swept twice in a row before finally breaking through Saturday. That's the version of this team Arizona has actually seen the last two days — grindy, low-scoring, capable of losing a lead late. The D-backs, for their part, have been streaky all week, alternating wins and losses and looking for anything resembling consistency out of a lineup that's missing multiple outfield bats.
Wrobleski's issue lately hasn't been stuff, it's location — he's owned up to the possibility hitters are picking up something in his delivery after allowing four home runs in each of his last two starts. Rodriguez has the platform to make this a step-and-forward series for Arizona if he can find the version of himself that had a sub-3 ERA for most of the summer, rather than the one who got shelled his last time out. Whoever settles in first probably decides the rubber match.