Dave Roberts Unable to Recognize His Own Ballclub as Dodgers Suffer Complacency Epidemic

For the second straight weekend, the Los Angeles Dodgers are staring down the barrel of a potential sweep. They somehow managed to salvage their series at Petco Park with an encouraging win last week and now they look to do so again in the finale of their homestand against the Arizona Diamondbacks. After shutting out the defending champions, 3-0, in the series opener on Friday (August 29, 2025), the D-Backs carried the stack of winning odds on Saturday too—handing the Dodgers a brutal 6-1 loss. The sting of recent defeats pushed Roberts to call out the complacency creeping into his ballclub.

Roberts expects the club to seize the opportunity now without him bringing it to light for them. “I mean, it’s right there; it’s a great opportunity that we have and you got to embrace it,” he stressed.

While he acknowledged the roster’s talent and standing in the division, he also believes the Diamondbacks got the best of the Dodgers this time. “It just seems like the last couple nights, at some points, it was an unrecognizable ball club. So, we still had a lot of talent. We’re still in a decent spot but we’ve got to play. We’ve got to play better. We do,” Roberts said in the postgame interview.

Plus, the Dodgers are caught in the spiral of complacency. “I think it’s just I know that last Sunday we talked about urgency and we saw it for a handful of games. I just think the last couple of nights they were kind of fighting till the end, like it was the last game. We’re not seeing that. We’re just not.” he admitted.

Roberts has not seen that same urgency carry into this series against the D-backs. Over the first two games of their homestand against the Diamondbacks, the Dodgers managed just a single run. That lone breakthrough came in the seventh inning of the second game when Mookie Betts blooped an RBI single to end a 15-inning scoreless skid.

Tyler Glasnow, meanwhile, also did everything in his power to keep the Dodgers afloat. He carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning. However, the Dodgers failed to provide any run support. After a second straight loss, manager Dave Roberts could barely recognize the club.

Over the last month, the Dodgers have played comparatively better against contending teams. However, now their offensive struggles make them their own enemy.

The Dodgers Became Their Own Enemy in a Frustrating Loss to the Diamondbacks

During their 6-1 humiliation against the Diamondbacks, Andy Pages gave the team their first hit in the second inning. Only for Alex Call and Kiké Hernández to then come up empty. During the third inning, a two-out walk looked promising as well. However, Eduardo Rodríguez got the better of Will Smith to shut the inning down.

On the other hand, Glasnow retired the first ten batters he faced. But then, when an inside slider hit Ketel Marte, it ruined the perfect game bid. He bounced back to get the next two batters out, then retired four more in a row.

By the sixth inning, however, Ildemaro Vargas, the Diamondbacks’ No. 9 hitter, broke Glasnow’s no-hitter with a weak grounder to third base. Yet, Glasnow pitched six scoreless innings, but the Dodgers’ hitters didn’t give him the support he needed.

Meanwhile, Freddie Freeman started off the fourth inning. It marked his 543rd career double, tying him with Tony Gwynn for 36th place in MLB history. When Pages tried to advance Freeman with a weak chopper to Blaze Alexander, he ran into Alexander’s glove for a crucial second out. The Dodgers left the potential first run of the game stuck on first base, proving they are their own enemies when it matters the most.