Exhausted Dodgers suffer train wreck in blowout loss to Arizona

The Dodgers made a business decision on Sunday.

After two hard-fought, high-intensity victories to open this weekend’s crucial four-game series in Arizona, the team had a chance to Real to extend the lead in the National League West; perhaps to create a gap too big to be squandered in the final month of the season.

But they were also wary of the worn-out state of their roster. Of a bullpen that had thrown a combined 12 innings in those two victories. Of a lineup that had trudged through a resurgent August to reassert its spot atop the division standings.

That’s why, even as Sunday’s 14-3 loss to the Diamondbacks at Chase Field began to unravel, manager Dave Roberts did little to prevent disaster.

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He left rookie spot starter Justin Wrobleski on the mound and carried him into a 5 ⅓-inning, 10-run implosion (eight of the runs were scored in a seven-hit, 11-battered second inning).

He brought in three of his best (and most used) star players — Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts and Teoscar Hernández — in the third inning.

He effectively waved the white flag before the club had even gone through the batting order twice.

“I think for me, as I’ve always felt, and still feel, the most important thing is the health of the player, and if that was in any way compromised, I would go with another option,” Roberts said before the game. “I just think that kind of mindset is generally the most beneficial for the player, the team. So I don’t think the win-loss, the standings, is going to be a determining factor in who I go with today.”

He certainly wasn’t lying.

This could still be a successful desert tour for the Dodgers. They’ve already secured a series split and no worse than a four-game lead in the NL West (they were five games ahead of both the Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres at the end of Sunday’s game).

But when Sunday’s match started to run out of time, they decided it was beyond saving.

Whether they agree with it or not, they tolerated what they hoped would be only a small step backward, hoping that it would allow them to take greater steps forward in the future.

“We were in a tough spot today, you just try to find a way to save the pitching,” Roberts said after the game. “I think the positive is that we’re back at full strength tomorrow and have a chance to win the series.”

Even if the Dodgers (82-55) hadn’t scored right away on Sunday, the hole Wrobleski left would likely have been too deep to fill.

The 24-year-old left-handed pitcher, making his sixth career start, was attacked in the second inning by the Diamondbacks (76-61) and their strong lineup, struggling to control the ball early in the count or avoid hard contact when he fell behind.

Randal Grichuk led off with a double. Eugenio Suárez, Kevin Newman and Jose Herrera hit consecutive singles with one out to make it 2-0. Then Geraldo Perdomo hit a two-run double to give Arizona a 4-0 lead.

If there was ever a time when Roberts could consider a more aggressive strategy and deploy his tired bullpen to stop the bleeding, it was then.

But as Roberts promised before the game, the bullpen did not move. The manager remained in his seat at the front of the dugout.

Wrobleski should wear it.

And he did.

After Josh Bell singled to make it 5-0, Grichuk returned to the plate and hit a three-run home run into the right-center field balcony, easily clearing the 413-foot mark, which was about 20 feet below.

As Wrobleski watched the ball sail onto the field, he hung his head as the home crowd gathered around him.

“It sucks,” said Wrobleski, who Roberts said will be optioned Monday for another relief arm. “It’s part of being a starting pitcher. It’s part of pitching in this league. It’s a tough league to pitch in, that’s for sure. Just keep going.”

After Shohei Ohtani, Betts and Freeman struck out in consecutive at-bats in the next half-inning, it was clear something was wrong.

When the Dodgers took the field in the third inning, Freeman (who is still playing with a broken middle finger), Betts (who has played in all 18 of the team’s games since returning from a broken hand) and Hernández (who has played in 133 games this year, the most on the team) were still on the bench.

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The Dodgers eventually managed to score three runs (Tommy Edman and Kevin Kiermaier had RBI grounders; Austin Barnes had an RBI single). But that was little consolation in what was the Dodgers’ most lopsided loss of the season.

Wrobleski’s 10 earned runs alone were the most allowed by a Dodgers pitcher in the history of the Los Angeles club.

On Monday afternoon, the Dodgers get a chance at redemption.

Top trade deadline acquisition Jack Flaherty will take the mound on five days of rest. The bullpen will be as fresh as it has been in weeks (though that’s not saying much for a group that has spent the year making up for a lack of rotation length). The chance to win three of four games against an intradivision rival will still be within reach.

The Dodgers hope their decisions on Sunday’s roster only contribute to that.

They have made a business decision and now have to wait and see whether it is ultimately worth it.

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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.