LOS ANGELES — If Roki Sasaki is very much a work in progress, the Dodgers finally didn’t have to squint and strain the imagination to see some signs of progress.
After an erratic spring training that raised questions about his place in the Dodgers’ starting rotation, Sasaki made his season debut Monday night and quieted the questions (for now). The young right-hander pitched into the fifth inning, allowing just one run on four hits and two walks while striking out four.
But rookie left-hander Parker Messick and two relievers combined to shut the Dodgers out for eight innings as the Cleveland Guardians handed the Dodgers their first loss of the season, 4-2, on Monday night.
Before the game, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts did what he could to strike a note of optimism about Sasaki’s chances of making his spring performance forgettable.
“He could have cashed in last year. Given his health early, the lack of performance towards the middle of the year, towards the end, he could have just written it off and started fresh in the offseason,” Roberts said. “But he was willing to pitch out of the bullpen, ramp back up and give us whatever we needed (in October). So for me, that was something where he put himself out there.
“That’s why I have a lot of confidence right now (that he can) turn the corner from spring training. If he would have run from that last year, that would have checked me up a little bit.”
Sasaki ran a 3-and-1 count on the first batter he faced but came back to strike out Steven Kwan and retired six of the first seven batters he faced. Austin Hedges led off the third inning with a double and scored two batters later on Kwan’s double.
Sasaki walked the next batter but settled back down and got through four innings without giving up another run. When Angel Martinez led off the fifth with a single, Roberts pulled Sasaki.
Tanner Scott gave up another single to Kwan but stranded runners at second and third.
Still, that put the Dodgers in the trail position for a fourth consecutive game to start the season. This time, the offense was stuck in neutral for too long.
Messick kept the Dodgers off balance with a six-pitch mix ranging from 77 mph (his curveball) to 92.8 (his fastball average).
The Dodgers put runners on base in four of the first five innings against Messick but hit into two double plays and, most costly, had a runner picked off second base.
Miguel Rojas led off the third inning with a double. Dalton Rushing’s popped-up sacrifice bunt attempt turned into a base hit when a tumbling Messick couldn’t make a play, putting two runners on with no outs for Shohei Ohtani.
But Rojas was picked off second (a call made by replay review). Ohtani flew out to center field and Kyle Tucker struck out.
Rojas was the only Dodger to even make it to second base until they put runners at the corners with two outs in the seventh inning. Max Muncy stranded them both by striking out against Guardians reliever Erik Sabrowski.
By then, the Guardians had expanded on their early 1-0 lead. They loaded the bases with no outs against Justin Wrobleski in the top of the seventh. Wrobleski nearly escaped. He got a pair of pop outs to keep the runners in place but walked Rhys Hoskins to force in a run (after being ahead 0-and-2 in the count) and gave up a two-run double to Daniel Schneemann that made it 4-0.
The Dodgers avoided the shutout in the ninth inning when Tucker beat out an infield single, went first-to-third on a pitch that got away from Guardians catcher Hedges and scored on a double by Mookie Betts. Betts scored on a ground out by Freddie Freeman before the Guardians closed it out.
More to come on this story.