MILWAUKEE — The Dodgers have talked of Roki Sasaki ‘turning the corner’ so many times already that he seems to keep ending up back where he started.
But he might actually be getting somewhere.
Sasaki gave up three runs in the first inning Saturday, putting the Dodgers in a hole. But he recovered, retired the final 10 batters he faced and the Dodgers blew it open late, beating the Milwaukee Brewers 11-3 behind a six-RBI night from Teoscar Hernandez.
The bullpen inherited a one-run lead and followed Sasaki with four scoreless innings, extending a scoreless streak for the relief crew to 36 innings, the longest in franchise history during the modern era (since 1901).
The win was the Dodgers’ first regular-season victory over the Brewers after nine consecutive defeats stretching back to 2024.
Sasaki was looking to build on the best start of his MLB career – seven innings with one run allowed and eight strikeouts against the Angels last week.
The first inning Saturday looked nothing like that.
Jackson Chourio and Brice Turang led off with back-to-back doubles and Sasaki compounded his problems when he fielded Andrew Vaughn’s swinging bunt and threw wildly to first base. A walk and a single by Sal Frelick pushed across another run before Gary Sanchez was thrown out trying to go first to third on Frelick’s hit, getting Sasaki out of the inning.
With two outs in the second inning, Chourio doubled again and Sasaki walked Turang. To that point, seven of the first 11 Brewers had reached base – four hits, two walks and Sasaki’s error. It had the potential to be the kind of start that would erase whatever progress Sasaki had made a week earlier.
But he retired the next 10 Brewers in order. After throwing 35 pitches in the first inning, Sasaki strung together four more innings on 52 pitches.
By the time he finished his day’s work, the Dodgers’ offense had erased his rough start with one big inning of its own.
Freddie Freeman and Andy Pages led off the fourth inning against Brewers starter Robert Gasser with back-to-back doubles. For Freeman, it was the 561st double of his career, moving him into 30th place all-time (breaking a tie with Jeff Kent and Eddie Murray).
After a fly out, Kyle Tucker drew a walk, putting two runners on with one out for Hernandez. Hernandez fell behind 0-and-2 and Gasser came inside off the plate with a sweeper. It stayed up and Hernandez lofted a high fly ball down the left field line that clipped the foul pole for a three-run home run.
Sasaki passed the one-run lead on to a bullpen that hasn’t been charged with a run since May 12 against the San Francisco Giants. Alex Vesia and Kyle Hurt tempted fate by walking the leadoff man in each of their innings before retiring the side.
The Dodgers broke the game open, turning a one-run lead into a rout with seven runs over the final two innings. Hernandez drove in three of them with singles in the eighth and ninth innings.
Brewers relievers walked six in the final two innings, part of a season-high 11 walks drawn by the Dodgers.