PHOENIX — The state of a struggling Dodgers bullpen was abundantly clear when manager Dave Roberts turned to not one, but two career starting pitchers in an effort to piece together a win on Wednesday night.
Roki Sasaki and Clayton Kershaw were two of seven relievers Roberts called on as the Dodgers eked out a 5-4 win over the D-backs in an 11-inning thriller at Chase Field. The victory lowered the Dodgers’ magic number to win the NL West to one.
They lead the Padres by 2 1/2 games — and hold the head-to-head tiebreaker — and can clinch the division with a win in Thursday’s series finale.
“Weâ€re trying to clinch this thing,” Roberts said. “Weâ€re trying to win baseball games. And then we can worry about the postseason.”
The Dodgers have an MLB-worst 13 blown saves since the All-Star break, including Wednesday, when the D-backs rallied for three runs off Alex Vesia and Edgardo Henriquez in the eighth inning. Jack Dreyer and Blake Treinen wriggled out of a jam in the 10th, and Justin Wrobleski slammed the door in the 11th after Tommy Edman put the Dodgers in front with an RBI single.
All of L.A.’s conventional options have faltered at times. So the team turned to an inexperienced rookie and a veteran starter — and could potentially lean on them in those roles in October.
After Blake Snell tossed six innings of one-run ball, Sasaki was the first arm up in relief. He tossed a scoreless frame in his first big league action since May 9, after which he missed four months due to impingement in his right shoulder.
The 23-year-old Sasaki had not pitched in relief as a professional before making two rehab appearances out of the ‘pen for Triple-A Oklahoma City. As had been the case in the Minors, Sasaki’s stuff ticked up on Wednesday night.
Six of the seven four-seamers he threw clocked in at 99 mph or higher, topping out at 99.8. In eight starts before he was injured, Sasaki had hit 99 mph just eight times — all in his big league debut in the season-opening Tokyo Series on March 19.
“The two biggest factors,” Sasaki said of his velocity, through interpreter Will Ireton, “is just knowing the fact that I’m healthy and that’s way past behind me. Mechanically, being able to finally find a place where I feel really confident with my mechanics.”
Sasaki’s first batter, James McCann, was the only D-back to put a ball in play against him. McCann hit a 98.1 mph grounder to third baseman Max Muncy, who made a long throw from the edge of the infield dirt for the out. Sasaki struck out his next two hitters, sending Tim Tawa down looking and Ildemaro Vargas down swinging. He induced three swing-and-misses, including two on his fastball.
It was perhaps as close to as-advertised as Sasaki had looked all year, albeit in a role the Dodgers had not expected to use him in when they signed the coveted right-hander out of Japan this past offseason.
“I just think thereâ€s a lot more confidence, a lot more conviction and obviously the stuff is up where it was earlier this year,” Roberts said. “Heâ€s learned a lot from this season, some of the struggles, not being able to participate, being in Triple-A, the rehab assignment and coming back. He just wants to help. Iâ€m really, really proud of his growth and what heâ€s done.”
Meanwhile, Kershaw was tasked with preserving a tie in the bottom of the ninth in his first regular-season relief appearance since Sept. 29, 2019 (he also came out of the ‘pen in Game 5 of the NL Division Series that year). Thanks to an inning-ending diving catch from Edman in center field, Kershaw also faced the minimum, sending the game to extras.
Kershaw had made himself available in the ‘pen the night before. After his emotional regular-season farewell to Dodger Stadium last Friday, he wasn’t due to start until Sunday in Seattle. Rather than throw his usual bullpen session, he figured, why not be an option to cover an inning in an important game for his team?
For Sasaki and Kershaw, the bullpen is the likely path to a spot on the Dodgers’ postseason roster. Both showed they could certainly be viable options.
“We have six amazing starters,” Kershaw said. “And so it’s just, yeah, I can do the math. So if I want to be a part of it in any way, I’ll do whatever they want.”
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