Roki Sasaki dominates Angels in best start as Dodgers complete sweep
· Yahoo Sports
ANAHEIM, Calif. – The Dodgers didn’t just finish off a sweep of the Angels on Sunday afternoon at Angel Stadium. They made a statement.
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One year after the Angels embarrassed the Dodgers by sweeping both editions of the Freeway Series, the Dodgers returned the favor in emphatic fashion, capping a dominant weekend in Anaheim with a 10-1 victory fueled by two of Japan’s brightest stars: Shohei Ohtani and Roki Sasaki.
The Dodgers outscored the Angels this weekend, 31-3.
For Sasaki, it was more than just another start. It was the performance the Dodgers have been waiting for all season.
With injuries piling up in the rotation after both Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow landed on the injured list within the last week, the Dodgers desperately needed stability from the rest of their staff. Sasaki answered with the best outing of his young MLB career.
The right-hander carved through the Angels lineup with precision and poise, finishing with seven innings, four hits, one earned run, no walks and eight strikeouts on just 91 pitches, including 69 strikes. He established career highs in both innings pitched and strikeouts while recording his first major league start without issuing a walk.
Most importantly, he finally looked completely in command.
Sasaki spent the afternoon getting Angels hitters to chase outside the strike zone with his devastating splitter and forkball combination. Through the first three innings, the only blemish was a double from Mike Trout, who battled through several fastballs before eventually connecting.
By the fifth inning, Sasaki had already struck out seven hitters without a walk and needed only 73 pitches to get through five frames. By the sixth, he had set a new career high with his eighth strikeout. Then came another milestone: the seventh inning.
Entering the day, Sasaki had never recorded an out in the seventh inning in the major leagues. He retired the side in order on just five pitches.
It was the kind of efficient, dominant outing the Dodgers envisioned when they committed to keeping him in the big league rotation despite some early-season growing pains.
“He had command of the fastball, command of the split, forkball and mixed in the slider when needed,” Dave Roberts said after the game.
Sasaki credited catcher Dalton Rushing for helping guide the outing.
“I think Rushing did a great job calling a game with the pitch selection,” Sasaki said.
Roberts praised the chemistry between the two throughout the afternoon.
“Dalton did a good job with the game plan,” Roberts said. “Just reading the swings. Every hitter is different.”
The only run Sasaki allowed came in the fourth inning when Yoán Moncada lined an RBI single to right field that scored Nolan Schanuel. By then, however, the Dodgers already held a commanding lead.
The offense made sure Sasaki had breathing room from the start.
Miguel Rojas opened the scoring with a sacrifice fly in the second inning before Hyeseong Kim followed with an RBI single to make it 2-0.
Then the Dodgers broke the game open in the fourth.
With the bases loaded, Ohtani ripped a two-run single to center field to extend the lead to 4-0. Moments later, Andy Pages added a two-run single of his own, pushing the advantage to 6-0 and ending the afternoon for Angels starter Grayson Rodriguez, who struggled in his season debut.
The Dodgers kept piling on. Kyle Tucker drove in another run in the fourth before adding a two-run double in the ninth. Teoscar Hernández capped the scoring with an RBI single that made it 10-1.
It marked the second time this season the Dodgers scored 10 or more runs in consecutive games after exploding for 15 runs Saturday night.
But beyond the sweep and offensive fireworks, the Dodgers may be leaving Anaheim with something even more encouraging: Ohtani looks locked in again.
Ohtani finished Sunday 3-for-5 with three hits and two RBIs. Over his last 16 at-bats, Ohtani has collected eight hits, 15 total bases, two doubles, a triple, a home run and nine RBIs.
“My strike zone awareness is a lot better,” Ohtani said. “I feel like I’m seeing the ball better.”
Roberts hopes the surge is a sign the former MVP has officially broken out of his recent slump.
“I like to think so, I hope so,” Roberts said. “We got a good series, a fun series coming up and it’s good to see that he’s swinging the bat well.”
The Dodgers entered the weekend searching for momentum after dropping four straight games. They leave Anaheim riding a five-game winning streak, having outscored their crosstown rivals by a staggering margin during a three-game sweep.
And on Sunday, with questions surrounding the rotation growing louder by the day, Sasaki delivered the kind of performance that may quiet some of that concern, at least for now.