The Dodgers were down early against the Angels on Monday, having to fight their way back from the first inning. A pair of home runs cut a six-run deficit in half, and the Dodgers tied the game late in the eighth inning, but the contest ultimately ended in a 7-7 tie .
Roki Sasaki was given the start as the Dodgers looked to see him improve in his final tuneup. Instead, Sasaki was erratic immediately, plunking Zach Neto on a 3-0 pitch to begin the game. Sasaki got a ground ball from Mike Trout, but
an errant throw to second base from Miguel Rojas allowed him to reach. Sasaki then walked three consecutive hitters, with both Neto and Trout scoring, and the right-hander was pulled after throwing 30 pitches without a record a single out.
Ronan Kopp was called on for clean-up duty, managing to get three outs by allowing a two-run single from Josh Lowe to put the Angels up by four in the first. All four runs were charged to Sasaki.
Sasaki went back out for the second inning, this time plunking Neto for the second time after being ahead 0-2 in the count. Sasaki subsequently allowed his fourth walk of the game to Mike Trout, but finally recorded an out with Nolan Schanuel reaching on a fielder’s choice. Jorge Soler grounded into a double play to give Sasaki a full inning of work.
Sasaki was able to settle in on the mound during the top of the third, as after walking his fifth batter, he struck out two consecutive hitters and faced just four men. The Dodgers were a swing away from tying the game in the bottom half, but Angels lefty Reid Detmers struck out Will Smith and got Freddie Freeman to ground out to end a bases-loaded threat.
Sasaki’s command couldn’t improve as he allowed a lead-off walk to begin the top of the fourth, after which Dave Roberts had seen enough. Over 2+ innings of work, Sasaki tossed 66 pitches (32 for strikes) and although he didn’t allow a hit, he was charged for five earned runs, while walking six and striking out two. Out of the 66 pitches he threw, his fastball and splitter counted for 56 of them, with his cutter and slider failing to land a single time in the plate. His fastball started at 99 miles per hour to start but dropped down to 95 during his final full inning, while his splitter was his most accurate pitch with a 63 percent (17 out of 27) strike percentage.
Sasaki now ends spring with a 15.58 ERA across 8 2/3 innings of work, having been charged for 15 earned runs on just nine hits, striking out 12 but walking 15. With opening day just three days away, the latest concern now for Sasaki is whether he’ll find himself in the rotation. He is slated to start the first game against the Cleveland Guardians on Mar. 30.
Ben Casparius recorded a pair of outs in relief of Sasaki, both being sacrifice flies, and Tanner Scott got out of the jam.
Teoscar Hernández and Miguel Rojas each connected for home runs against Ryan Zeferjahn in the bottom of the fourth inning to put the Dodgers on the board and trim the deficit in half. For Hernández, he regained the team home run lead with his fifth of the spring while knocking home his 21st RBI.
The Dodgers cut the deficit to two runs after a bases-loaded walk from Dalton Rushing in the bottom of the sixth inning, but the Angels got that run back on a Josh Lowe single against Will Klein, giving him his third RBI of the game and bringing the lead back to three. Rushing once again provided some late-game offense, drilling a two-run double against Jordan Romano in the bottom of the eighth inning. Alex Call made it a brand new ballgame by bringing home Rushing with an RBI double of his own, tying the game at seven.
The Dodgers put the leadoff man on in the bottom of the ninth, but could not cash in and settled for a draw.
UP NEXT
Tuesday marks the final spring game of 2026 for the Dodgers, as they host the Angels for the finale of their exhibition series (5:10 p.m. PT, SportsNet LA). Shohei Ohtani makes his final spring tune-up, while the Angels have yet to announce their starter.
