Roki Sasaki and the Los Angeles Dodgers offense catapults to series sweep.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are catching a nice wave.
Roki Sasaki delivered the best outing of his MLB career and the Dodgers offense broke out in as many days as he Dodgers complete the series sweep against the Los Angeles Angels, 10-1.
The Dodgers outscored the Angels 31-3 in the first edition of the 2026 Freeway Series and have won five straight.
Sasaki Tosses Best Outing of MLB Career
There was lenty to gaze at in Sasaki's eighth outing of the season in Anaheim.
Coming off a loss last time against the San Francisco Giants, the 24-year-old bounced back with the best start of his young MLB career.
He entered into the seventh inning for the first time in his career and was able to cap off his outing in the seventh on just five pitches.
Sasaki threw 91 pitches and gave up one earned run in those seven innings of work and struck out a career-high eight batters.
He generated 18 swing and misses with his most effective pitch being his slider, which accumulated a whiff percentage of 58%.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts commended Sasaki's efforts on the mound, noting that he had command of all of his pitches throughout his outing.
May 17, 2026; Anaheim, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki (11) delivers during the first inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium. -- © William Liang-Imagn Images Along with his slider generating a high whiff percentage, it was also the pitch that tagged the most strikeouts, with three on the board.
Roberts also noted that he was on attack mode all day, just as fellow starting arm, Justing Wrobleski.
In the postgame scrum, Sasaki was asked on his career performance.
He acknowledged his catcher behind the dish before anything of his performance.
“I think [Dalton] Rushing did a great job calling a game with the pitch selection…I actually felt better last outing, but today, I was able to throw strikes," Sasaki said.
Dodgers Offense Stay Hot in Anaheim
This Dodgers know's no end when they've played against the Angels.
En route to the sweep, the Dodgers offense generated 31 runs in 28 innings with their 10-spot performance on Sunday.
Los Angeles kicked off their scoring in the second inning as Miguel Rojas found himself with a bases loaded situation and one out.
With the bases loaded this season, the Dodgers bats have had a tough time figuring out how to capatilize. Rojas would begin the small change to that narrative.
He hit a sacrifice fly that would be followed up a Hyeseong Kim RBI single.
May 17, 2026; Anaheim, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) is greeted by teammates after scoring during the fourth inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium. -- © William Liang-Imagn Images Shohei Ohtani, whose bat has dialed up a notch after going through the worst hitting slump of his career, knocked in a two-run single with the bases loaded in the fourth.
Ohtani had seven RBI in the three-game series against the Angels and went 3-5 at the plate on Sunday.
Roberts said that Ohatni has looked more "refreshed" at the plate since coming off his recent struggles.
Kyle Tucker and Andy Pages followed with back-to-back singles, and Tucker would pick up his third RBI of the game with a two-run double in the ninth.
What's Next?
With the series sweep, the Dodgers improve to a 29-18 record, and have won five consecutive ball games.
Los Angeles sets its sights to play the San Diego Padres for a three-game series that will star Yoshinobu Yamamoto toeing the rubber in th series opener.
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