That wasn’t a fluke.
Just as he did in his last start, Roki Sasaki touched 100 mph again on Friday night.
Over seven scoreless innings in the Dodgers’ 1-0 victory over the Angels at Uniqlo Field, Sasaki averaged 98.3 mph with his fastball.
Sasaki was able to retain whatever he figured out in his previous start when he averaged 98.5 mph with his signature pitch.
Consider his fastball rediscovered.
Sasaki’s 10-strikeout performance positioned the Dodgers to claim a victory on a walk-off home run by Freddie Freeman.
Freeman’s homer was the Dodgers’ third hit of the night.
Sasaki is trending in a promising direction. He is 2-0 with a 1.50 earned-run average over his last four starts.
His upswing began with a win over the Angels in Anaheim in which he limited the Angels to a run over seven innings on May 17.
However, how he pitched then and how he pitched on Friday night was entirely different. In that victory at Angel Stadium, Sasaki’s fastball averaged only 96.6 mph.
What it means
The two teams that are closest to the Dodgers in the National League West both lost. The second-place Diamondbacks, who are now 7 ¹/₂ games behind Los Angeles, dropping a 14-1 decision to the Washington Nationals while the third-place San Diego Padres (eight games out of first) lost 5-0 to the Mets.
Who’s hot
The Dodgers entered the game ranking second in the majors in defensive runs saved, according to FanGraphs, and their fielders made some spectacular plays behind Sasaki.
The most memorable being one by second baseman Miguel Rojas, who picked up a ball that deflected off the pitcher’s glove with his bare hand and made a throw across his body in the third inning.
The inning ended with another highlight-worthy play in which shortstop Mookie Betts flipped the ball out of his glove to Rojas at second for a force out.
Who’s not
Just as Shohei Ohtani was starting to look as if he could make a run at the batting title, he went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts to snap a seven-game hitting streak. He also failed to reach base for the first time since May 11.
Up next
The Dodgers’ three-game series against the Angels will continue on Saturday with Yoshinobu Yamamoto (5-4, 2.86) taking on Angels right-hander Jack Kochanowicz (2-4, 5.23).
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: nypost.com
