Philadelphia’s Edmundo Sosa sauntered out of the box, motioning with one hand in a pump-wave in front of a nearly packed Dodger Stadium. The left fielder, who had taken over for Brandon Marsh in the top of the sixth, connected on a four-seam fastball that Dodgers reliever Tanner Scott left too far over the plate for a go-ahead home run.
The Dodgers had been playing with fire all night, but they couldn’t regain momentum after Scott’s struggles, losing to the Phillies 4-3 to set up a Sunday series rubber match.
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The loss ended the Dodgers’ six-game winning streak for only its third defeat in 16 games.
“I was trying to go up, and I left it more on the plate,” said Scott about the home run pitch. “It wasn’t out of the strike zone with two strikes and it caught me.”
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The Dodgers (37-21) started strong, with pitcher Roki Sasaki giving up just three hits and one earned run over 5⅓ innings.
Sasaki’s elevated velocity posed early concerns for the Dodgers as he struggled more with his command. The right-hander crossed the 100-mph threshold for the first time this season on two pitches: a 100.4-mph four-seam to J.T. Realmuto and another fastball, this time 100.1mph, to Kyle Schwarber.
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“The fastball was really good,” Sasaki said through interpreter Kensuke Okubo. “The velo was there. I was able to execute what the catcher called.”
Three of his four pitches — the four-seam, slider and splitter — averaged at least 1.2 mph faster than his yearly average.
Roberts said he was surprised to see Sasaki hit triple digits. The Japanese pitcher has been working hard in the weight room and, earlier in the season, he would check the speed of his pitches on the radar gun after every throw. The next step will be to execute his harder throws with a more precise location.
“You layer in the confidence and the conviction and all that stuff,” manager Dave Roberts said. “Then you get a really good fastball with very good command. It’s a very good lineup over there. I know they’re not swinging the bats the way that they will. But good team over there, and he really kept them at bay.”
Dodgers starting pitcher Roki Sasaki delivers during the first inning Saturday against the Phillies. (Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)
The Phillies (30-28) struggled to generate consistent momentum. Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm hammered a four-seam fastball that skimmed the top of the strike zone over the center-field wall in the first inning. The rest of the Philadelphia lineup struggled against Sasaki, striking out seven times and walking only once.
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Roberts pulled Sasaki with runners on first and second in the sixth. Left-hander Alex Vesia walked Bryce Harper but escaped a one-out, bases-loaded jam by striking out Sosa and forcing Bohm into a groundout to third.
“Early on, certainly last year, a little bit this year, you’re trying to protect him,” Roberts said of Sasaki. “I think that you’re trying to not let the shoe drop, leave him with a feeling of confidence when he leaves the mound. Today, I thought he was still throwing the baseball well, but with two guys coming up I thought Alex was a good matchup for those two guys.
“There’ll be an opportunity to push Roki later. … I’m not necessarily pins and needles, but I just feel like I can give him a little more leash now.”
By then, the Dodgers had already established a lead. Alex Call put them on the board in the second on a poked single through the gap between second and short. In the fourth, Call reached third on a double and a fielding error from Adolis García. Santiago Espinal hit a sacrifice fly to deep center field, driving in Call.
Mookie Betts also found his footing after he went 0 for 3 on Friday. The shortstop struggled in the first four games of the Dodgers’ homestand, batting .200 across 15 plate appearances. Against the Phillies on Saturday night, Betts laced two singles and a double.
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Andy Pages scored on a close play at the plate after Betts singled to shallow right field in the seventh. Although catcher J.T. Realmuto missed tagging Pages’ foot, the Dodgers center fielder’s cleat didn’t appear to touch the plate. After a long review, the safe at home call stood.
But the Dodgers’ good fortune didn’t last. Scott gave up an RBI single to Harper, and it was like the Phillies could sense exactly when the reliever’s pitches crossed over the zone. Scott (1-2) then gave up the home run to Sosa before the Dodgers were retired on three groundouts in the ninth.
Before Saturday, Scott’s 1.14 ERA ranked third among National League relievers who had thrown at least 20 innings. He hadn’t given up a run in May and he had only given up three earned runs this season.
In the span of two at-bats, however, he looked closer to the pitcher that struggled last year.
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“You throw a pitch in [Sosa’s] wheelhouse, and that’s what happens,” Roberts said. “It happened quick. But Tanner has been great. No one is trying to give up hits and homers. But part of the equation is, you get count leverage, and then you have to be able to put them away. And tonight we couldn’t do that.”
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
