For the second straight series, the Dodgers were on the cusp of a sweep but dropped the finale again. This time it was the Texas Rangers avoiding a sweep, stealing the final game by a final score of 5-2.
It was another adventurous beginning for Roki Sasaki’s day on the mound, as he allowed a leadoff single to Brandon Nimmo and promptly walked Evan Carter to put two men on with nobody out. He got ahead in the count to Corey Seager, managing to strike him out on a fastball down the middle. He fooled
Jake Burger on a high fastball to punch him out, and then got out of the jam by striking out Joc Pederson on a splitter outside.
Shohei Ohtani immediately helped Sasaki build some confidence by crushing the first pitch of the game from Jacob deGrom into the right field pavilion for his second consecutive leadoff home run against Texas. It was his 26th career leadoff home run, and it extends his league-leading on-base streak to 46 games.
Sasaki once again found himself in trouble with two men on base and less than two outs, but he kept the Rangers scoreless by striking out Ezequiel Durán and getting Nimmo to pop out in foul territory. Sasaki got bit by the home run bug immediately in the top of the third, as Evan Carter attacked a first pitch fastball around the heart of the zone for his second home run of the series, tying the game.
He was a strike away from allowing just the one run, but Pederson lined a two-out, two-strike single to right field, sparking a two-out rally from the Rangers where they put four straight men on base, with a single from Josh Smith giving Texas a one-run lead. Sasaki struck out Duran to retire the side, but only after throwing 32 pitches in the inning. The Dodgers responded by putting two men on base against deGrom, but with Andy Pages at the plate with two outs, the Dodgers tried to implement a double steal. Call hesitated going for third and was tagged out, allowing the Rangers to get out of the jam.
Sasaki bounced back with a scoreless fourth inning, including getting Burger to strike out for the third time, but he needed at least 20 pitches to complete each frame on Sunday, only lasting four innings while tossing 94 pitches.
The strikeout stuff was apparent, striking out the side in the first and totaling a season-high six on the day, but his command was still wildly inconsistent, as he walked five hitters and has now walked 10 over 13 innings of work. He was effective using his slider on his first pitch of the at-bat, landing the strike zone four out of six times, but could only get a 50 percent first pitch strike rate on the afternoon, a fall from his previous outing against Washington where he was ahead in the count 70 percent to begin. He now carries a slightly improved 6.23 ERA on the season and his WHIP stands at 1.846.
While the young Sasaki showed flashes of brilliance mixed with his repeated lack of command, Jacob deGrom was giving flashbacks of his days as a Cy Young award winner with the New York Mets, as the only blemish on his day was the leadoff home run against Ohtani. He held the Dodgers scoreless over his next 92 pitches, tossing a quality start by going six innings, allowing just four hits and three walks while striking out a season-high nine hitters.
Once deGrom departed, the Dodgers chipped into the deficit, as Kyle Tucker recorded his first hit of the series with an RBI single against left-hander Jacob Latz to trim the Texas lead to one run. It’s been a rough start to the season for Tucker, as he has only two extra-base hits on the year with a slugging percentage at .316. He has continued to work great counts at the plate as he carries a .343 on base percentage, but he has a 23.9 percent strikeout rate, a significant spike from the 14.7 percent clip he registered with the Chicago Cubs last year.
After Sasaki’s day was done after four, the bullpen struggled with their command as well, as Edgardo Henríquez, Ben Casparius and Will Klein combined for five walks of their own while allowing three runs, two of which being earned. The Dodgers’ 10 walks allowed on the day is the most they have allowed all season, and it’s the first time they have walked at least 10 hitters since Sept. 18 of last season against the San Francisco Giants.
Andy Pages continues to swing a hot bat, hitting safely in each of the three games against Texas while his average stands at a league-leading .429 clip. Pages now ranks second in baseball for multi-hit games, as Brandon Nimmo passed him on Sunday with another pair of hits against the Dodgers.
Sunday’s game saw the Dodgers run out of ABS challenges by the third inning, while Rangers catcher Danny Jansen singlehandedly had four successful challenges across five attempts.
For the second straight series (regardless of location), the Dodgers tally just seven runs over the two games following an offensive explosion in the opener. The Dodgers are now 6-3 at home, but they average just 4.33 runs per game at Dodger Stadium this season.
Game particulars
- Home runs— Evan Carter (2); Shohei Ohtani (5)
- WP— Jacob deGrom (1-0): 6 IP, 4 hits, 1 earned run, 3 walks, 9 strikeouts
- LP— Roki Sasaki (0-2): 4 IP, 5 hits, 2 earned runs, 5 walks, 6 strikeouts
- SV— Jakob Junis (3): 1 IP, 0 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts
Up next
The Dodgers continue their homestand as they open up a three-game series with the New York Mets on Monday (7:10 p.m. PT, SportsNet LA). Justin Wrobleski makes his second start against left-hander David Peterson.
