Dodgers string together three one-run wins without Edwin Díaz, a rare pattern last seen in 2022

The Dodgers put together something that looks simple only until you try to replicate it. Over a three-game stretch, they won each contest by exactly one run, a feat that the team has not managed since May 17, 2022. Even by the standards of a club that has been one of the most efficient in baseball over the last several seasons, this run stands out because it requires late execution and the ability to avoid letting small moments pile up late in games.

Los Angeles accomplished the stretch without its usual high-leverage anchor at the back end. The team’s closer role during the moment in question, Edwin Díaz, was not part of the equation as the Dodgers navigated consecutive one-run results. In a sport where a single swing or missed out can turn a narrow win into a narrow loss, the fact that the Dodgers kept the game tied or within reach and then finished matters as much as the margin itself.

From a results standpoint, the Dodgers’ broader recent performance provides context. MLB notes that since May 17, 2022, Los Angeles has won well over 400 games, the most in the majors by a comfortable margin. That kind of sustained success tends to produce more “comfortable” wins than a string of one-run finishes, which is part of why this stretch draws attention. It suggests the Dodgers are not only winning, but doing it through a specific kind of bullpen management during high-leverage innings.

Winning three consecutive games by one run is not merely a matter of luck. It generally means that the club’s late-inning staff is able to stabilize the ninth inning and beyond even when the closer is unavailable or not called upon in the traditional way. When a bullpen uses multiple arms in sequence, the workload distribution, matchups, and timing of each reliever become central to whether a one-run lead survives. The Dodgers, according to MLB’s team coverage, leaned into that approach during this span.

Díaz’s absence from the closer equation also shifts the way fans think about the back end of a contender. A closer is more than a pitcher, he is a roster plan. When that plan changes, other pieces have to absorb both the physical demand and the mental expectation that comes with finishing tight games. For a team like the Dodgers, which has built its recent identity on bullpen depth and bullpen roles, the test is whether those roles can remain coherent when the usual closer path is disrupted.

The result, at least for the stretch covered by MLB, was a trio of narrow victories and a reminder that the Dodgers’ formula does not hinge on a single ninth-inning pitcher in every scenario. Still, one stat line does not rewrite season-long assumptions. Whether this is a one-time sequence based on matchups or a repeatable version of bullpen flexibility will show up over the next several weeks, when the Dodgers face more regular late-inning leverage and more common travel and rest patterns.

What to watch next is how the Dodgers manage high-leverage innings if the bullpen continues to operate without its normal closer usage pattern. If the club can sustain a stable set of late relievers and avoid the kind of cascading fatigue that often follows repeated one-run game management, Los Angeles will be demonstrating a deeper level of roster resilience. If the approach breaks down, even a strong team can begin losing some of those margins it has previously protected.