This is Roki Sasaki's home now. The San Gabriel Mountains at his back as he stands atop the mound at Dodger Stadium. Stands filled with adoring fans. Warm spring evenings that soon will lip into summer swelter.
Sasaki, 23, is beginning to feel comfortable in Chavez Ravine and with the heat that comes with choosing the Dodgers among scads of suitors when he left his native Japan in January. He is under team control for six seasons at a bargain rate, and the Dodgers are perfectly willing to allow him the space and time to become acclimated.
The right-hander made his fourth start Saturday — his second at Dodger Stadium — and it was his best yet, lasting five sturdy innings against the Chicago Cubs. Sasaki was nicked by a solo home run from former Dodger Michael Busch to lead off the second but pitched out of jams in the third and fifth, the former thanks to a leaping catch at the center field wall by Andy Pages that prevented a grand slam.
Sasaki was failed only by the Dodgers' inability to generate offense in a 16-0 loss to the Cubs in front of a sellout crowd of 53,887. They couldn't generate offense against starter Ben Brown, who came in with an earned-run average of 7.71 that shrunk to 5.09 after six scoreless innings.
"Giving the context that I hadn’t reached the five-inning mark the last three outings, I think it was really important that I was able to reach that point and I hope to be able to do that as a minimum going forward," Sasaki said through an interpreter.
The game turned into a literal laugher after the Cubs pounded relievers Ben Casparius and Luis García for 10 runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings. Infielder Miguel Rojas finished the eighth and pitched the ninth, emulating Sasaki's delivery while tossing 40-mph pitches that the Cubs crushed for another five runs.
"Ever since last year when I got the opportunity to pitch, I was trying to imitate my teammates that I play behind," Rojas said. "I was just trying to keep it loose on a night like this. The game was close until the sixth. Roki had a good outing."
Asked to rate Rojas' imitation, Sasaki laughed and said, "100%."
