Roki Sasaki absolutely owned the New York Mets on Friday night, delivering a dominant 4-2 win for the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Big Apple. This wasn’t just another good outing; Sasaki was on a different level, continuing to build on his string of dominant starts and making it look like it’s becoming his regular thing.
Sasaki’s Splitter Was Simply Unhittable in the Big Apple
Look, if you missed this game, you missed a masterclass in pitching. Sasaki threw seven full innings, carving up Mets hitters for nine strikeouts while giving up just three hits and two walks. The dude needed only 94 pitches to get through all seven, with a ridiculous 63 of them landing for strikes. But here’s the kicker: his splitter was a total nightmare. Batters were looking utterly foolish, chasing pitches that just dropped out of the zone. The numbers don’t lie: Mets hitters tallied 21 whiffs out of 50 swings and 13 called strikes. Sasaki leaned heavily on that splitter, throwing it 47% of the time, a full 21% more than his season average, while cutting back on his fastball by 11%. This was a total gem, exactly what the Dodgers envisioned when they brought him over from Japan.
Dodgers Got Runs the Old-School Way, With a Timely Homer
While Sasaki was busy shutting down the Mets, the Dodgers offense wasn’t exactly slugging their way to victory. Instead, they played some smart, old-school baseball, focusing on timely contact, good base-running, and even a bunt! Kyle Tucker ended up being the difference-maker, smashing a two-run homer in the top of the eighth inning. Get this: it was his first home run in July and his first since June 27th! The other two runs came from sacrifice fly-outs, one from Miguel Rojas and another from Shohei Ohtani. Dalton Rushing dropped down a perfect bunt to move runners to second and third, which set up Teoscar Hernandez, who got on with a soft single, to score on one of those sacrifice flies. The Dodgers finished with 11 hits and only four runs, but thanks to Sasaki’s incredible performance, it was more than enough for the W.
Sasaki is expected to make his next start at home, probably against the Boston Red Sox. Can he keep this dominant run going? You better believe the league will be watching to see if this splitter dominance is the new normal.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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