Diaz gave up a two-run homer in the ninth inning Tuesday at Texas for his first blown since taking over the closer job in early August.
Diaz pitched the eighth inning before heading out for the ninth. He walked two in the eighth, needing 24 pitches to get through the inning. Manager Scott Servais had no hesitation about going back to his best reliever an inning later in a one-run game. But Diaz left a 97 mph fastball over the plate that was crushed for the game winner. The plan was to use Steve Cishek for two innings in the seventh and eighth before Diaz in the ninth, but Cishek blew up in the seventh, which scuttled those plans. So, Servais needed two innings out of Diaz.