The Los Angeles Dodgers continued their road trip with the start of a three-game series against the Chicago White Sox on Friday night, but it ended up being a game to forget.
The Dodgers sent out a B-squad type lineup, with Shohei Ohtani on the bench as he deals with left knee inflammation and Santiago Espinal in his place as the designated hitter. Chuckie Robinson was also behind the plate to give Dalton Rushing a day off while Will Smith is on the injured list.
White Sox 8, Dodgers 2: key takeaways
Roki Sasaki turns in poor outing
For the first time in a while, Roki Sasaki was ineffective, lacking the command that’s helped him break out recently. The right-hander was only able to pitch 4.1 innings while allowing seven runs on seven hits with four strikeouts to three walks.
It was his first start not going at least five innings since April 19 against the Colorado Rockies, when he pitched 4.2 innings. It’s also the first time he’s allowed more than three earned runs since April 25 against the Chicago Cubs, when he allowed four.
The seven earned runs were the most he’s allowed in a start this season, passing the April 5 total when he allowed six over five innings.
Nearly all the damage came in the fifth inning, aside from a solo home run from Andrew Benintendi in the first inning. After that, Sasaki threw scoreless frames from the second through fourth innings.
But his command completely disappeared in the fifth as he walked three total hitters in the inning and allowed six runs.
The inning began with a leadoff walk and two singles that tied the game. Miguel Vargas then doubled in the go-ahead run. Sasaki bounced back by recording a strikeout, but then walked the next batter to load the bases, and walked another hitter to bring in the White Sox’s fourth run of the game.
Blake Treinen took over and immediately allowed a single to score two of the inherited runs. After recording the second out, Treinen allowed a triple that brought in another pair of runs to put the White Sox up 8-2. Only one of the runs was charged to Treinen, with the rest going to Sasaki.
Dodgers offense quiet
The Dodgers did all their scoring in the second inning, starting with a leadoff walk from Kyle Tucker. Miguel Rojas followed with a double and Max Muncy was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
Espinal singled home a pair to put the Dodgers up 2-1. The Dodgers loaded the bases for the second time in the inning when Alex Call was hit by a pitch, by Andy Pages struck out and Freddie Freeman flied out to end the threat.
The Dodgers tallied just four hits in the game and struck out nine times while taking one walk. They didn’t get a runner on base after the third inning.
After that seven-run fifth inning for the White Sox, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts waved the white flag, replacing Freeman with Ryan Ward and Mookie Betts with Alex Freeland.
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