CHICAGO –– With the upstart White Sox unexpectedly in first place, there is an energy pulsing through the South Side of Chicago again.
On Friday night, Dodgers right-hander Roki Sasaki found himself on the wrong side of it.
Surrounded by a raucous crowd at Rate Field, and struggling to find his recently improved command, Sasaki and the Dodgers came unglued in a seven-run fifth inning, letting the game get away from them in an 8-2 loss.
“As a staff, we’ve done a pretty good job of not allowing the huge inning,” manager Dave Roberts said. “Last couple times, in the last four or five games, we’ve given up big numbers. Unfortunately, that happens.”
Even before first pitch, the Dodgers’ night hadn’t started well.
Shohei Ohtani was out of the lineup after suffering a knee inflammation injury on Thursday. The makeshift batting order the team was left with included Alex Call in the leadoff spot and Santiago Espinal at DH.
Despite that, the Dodgers had an early 2-1 lead –– bouncing back from a solo home run by Andrew Benintendi in the bottom of the first with a two-run single from Espinal in the second.
By the time the fifth inning was over, however, everything had changed.
The meltdown started with a walk, one of three Sasaki would issue in the inning as his old command problems reared their ugly head. The young flamethrower wasn’t helped by his defense after that, with Freddie Freeman letting a potential double-play grounder get past him to score the inning’s first run.
With that, the score was tied 2-2. The crowd was whipped into an October-like frenzy. And after former Dodgers prospect Miguel Vargas laced an RBI double off the wall, there was no stopping the shift in momentum.
A pair of two-out walks –– the latter with the bases loaded –– chased Sasaki from the game. Blake Treinen replaced him but yielded a two-run single and a two-run triple.
And even if the Dodgers (44-26) had Ohtani’s bat at that point, the resulting six-run deficit likely still would’ve felt too great.
“I remember a few years back, it was empty, and there was a lot of dismay here on the South Side,” Roberts said of the White Sox. “And now there’s a lot of energy, excitement, they’re in first place. It’s a young, kind of a tough, athletic team.”
What it means
After making significant strides over the last month, Sasaki still very much remains a work in progress.
On Friday, he struggled to command his breaking pitches, couldn’t get ahead in counts and ultimately couldn’t stop the bleeding once the White Sox (37-31) finally got to him.
His final line: 4 ⅓ innings, seven runs, three walks, four strikeouts –– raising his ERA back to 4.76.
“My offspeed pitch wasn’t really good today,” Sasaki said through an interpreter. “So the third time through the order, I wasn’t able to get ahead in the count, I fell behind. So I couldn’t get those outs easily.”
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Who’s hot
About the only reliable performer for the Dodgers on Friday was second baseman Miguel Rojas, who finally seemed to be snapping out of a recent slump.
Rojas went 2-for-4 at the plate, including a double in the second. He also recovered from a slip on the edge of the infield in the bottom of the inning to throw out a runner off balance from his knees.
Who’s not
The Dodgers’ situational offense, especially in the second inning.
Before the White Sox broke it open, the Dodgers had the chance to do the same. Twice, they had the bases loaded against left-handed starter Anthony Kay. But outside of Espinal’s single, they couldn’t take advantage, with Andy Pages (strikeout) and Freeman (flyout) coming up empty for the final two outs of the inning.
After that, a third-inning single from Rojas would be the only other time the Dodgers got a runner on base.
Up next
Yoshinobu Yamamoto (6-4, 2.68 ERA) will be on the mound Saturday against right-hander Sean Burke (3-3, 3.88 ERA). Whether or not Ohtani also returns remains to be seen.
“He just got treated [today],” Roberts said. “So talking to the training staff just right now, I’m optimistic. But I want to get him through tonight, get him here, go through some semblance of a workout, getting his body ready, and then we’ll go from there.”
