Edwin Díaz allows one run, picks up save in return

Díaz’s velocity was down a bit from Wednesday, but he allowed only a single and struck out two of the four batters he faced. He’ll definitely be down Friday after this, and Tanner Scott, who set him up for a second straight game, likely will be, too. Perhaps that will result in a save chance for Evan Phillips.

He’s back. Díaz figures to immediately reclaim the closer role in Los Angeles with lefty Tanner Scott remaining in the mix to vulture the occasional opportunity. The 32-year-old former elite stopper’s stuff looked sharp in a handful of minor league rehab outings, piling up 11 strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings, while working his way back from surgery to remove loose bodies from his elbow back in late April.

The 32-year-old stopper will make one final rehab appearance on Sunday at Triple-A Oklahoma City before returning to the Dodgers. Before landing on the injured list, Díaz had posted a 10.50 ERA, 2.33 WHIP and a 10/5 K/BB ratio over six innings in his first seven appearances with the Dodgers.

Tanner Scott came in during the eighth for what looked like it might be a five-out save. However, the Dodgers instead decided to go to Stewart in the ninth, probably because Scott also threw 16 pitches last night. Stewart got through the inning easily, striking out Francisco Lindor and Carson Benge while also getting Bo Bichette to ground out. His previous saves came with the Dodgers in 2017 and the Twins in 2023. The oft-injured Stewart has a 2.03 ERA in his 13 appearances when he’s been able to pitch this season.

Scott breezed through a one-two-three inning here to secure the save. That’s now 11 converted saves over his last 12 tries dating back to the beginning of June to go along with a stellar 2.34 ERA on the season. The question is whether he retains some, most, all, or none of the closer’s role in Los Angeles with Edwin Díaz’s imminent return from the injured list.

He’ll make one final minor league rehab appearance at Triple-A Oklahoma City on Sunday and if all goes well, he’ll rejoin the Dodgers’ bullpen early next week. Tanner Scott will get a few additional days to hold down the closer’s role in his absence.

Díaz struck out two of the three batters he faced during a 19-pitch outing. He’ll make the second of back-to-back outings on Thursday. There was optimism that he would make it back to face his former team later this week, but he’s probably going to make at least one more rehab appearance over the weekend before the Dodgers decide to bring him back from the injured list. It likely has more to do with making Díaz fly across the country to New York than anything else. He’s on track to return next week.

Scott had no problems getting the final two outs in the eighth, but he allowed a leadoff single to Justin Crawford and then a one-out double to J.T. Realmuto in the ninth, putting runners at second and third. Brandon Marsh then hit a grounder to third. Crawford hesitated at third and eventually took off before getting caught in a rundown. That should have been the end of it, but Realmuto decided to retreat from third to second towards the end of the rundown and was thrown out to end the game. It was one of the worst baserunning calls all of the season, and it was hard not to wonder if Realmuto getting jarred by a foul tip earlier in the game might have had something to do with his decision making. Thanks to the abrupt ending, Scott threw just 18 pitches to get his five outs. He should be good to go again on Wednesday.

It sounds like the plan is for Díaz to continue his rehab assignment this week, most likely with back-to-back outings, before returning to the back-end of Los Angeles’ bullpen later this week. The 32-year-old closer is coming off surgery to remove loose bodies from his elbow back in early April.

Díaz has struck out six of the nine batters he’s faced, while allowing just one baserunner, across three rehab outings in the lower minors. The 32-year-old stopper figures to be close to making it back to Los Angeles’ late-inning mix and figures to take over the closing duties from Tanner Scott upon his return. There should be a definitive timeline when Dodgers manager Dave Roberts speaks to reporters at some point this weekend.