Is it time to push the panic button for Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Roki Sasaki?

He had a really bad first inning against the Cleveland Guardians, giving up a grand slam home run to the Guardians' Kyle Manzardo. But Sasaki, after getting yanked by Dodgers manager Dave Roberts in the first, came back out for two more innings of work.

Those innings proved to be much smoother. Also, the Dodgers managed to put some runs together and pick up a 5-4 Cactus League win over the Guardians on Tuesday afternoon. 

Sasaki's first inning, facing the first four Guardians hitters, went for two walks, a hit, and Manzardo's grand slam. Then Sasaki issued another walk, bringing Roberts in to get him. But, in Spring Training games, a starting pitcher can be brought back in should his manager want that to happen.

When a follower on X asked longtime Dodgers beat reporter Jack Harris of the California Post what was going on with Sasaki, Harris shared an image of where Sasaki's pitches were falling.

Sasaki, though, retired three Guardians hitters in a row in the second inning. He followed that up with another fairly clean inning in the third, retiring the Guardians three up, three down.

What did Roberts think about Sasaki's outing? He addressed it with reporters, including the California Post's Harris, after the game.

"I think the last two (innings today) are certainly something to build on ...," Roberts said. "I wasn’t overly concerned (after the first). But it was good to see him bounce back."

Sasaki, through his interpreter, said that he felt like his pre-game warmup was good and believed that he was just feeling good. Yet he also admitted to reporters that he "felt a small mismatch, like something was slightly off."

Once he got over that first inning and came back out for the second, Sasaki dialed up a reason for his tough first-inning situation.

“I could feel my upper body was leaning toward the third-base side,” Sasaki said, according to a story from Dodgers Beat. “Once I brought that back, both my breaking balls and my fastball started going over the plate. The first inning, the result was bad, but the feel was good. When those matched up, that’s when it clicked.”

Sasaki even ended up getting the victory over the Guardians.

The Dodgers got on the board in the top of the third inning on Miguel Rojas' two-run home run, which also brought home Eliezer Alfonzo. That made it 4-2 Guardians at that point. 

Then, in the top of the fourth inning, Zach Ehrhard smoked a two-run triple to bring home Alex Freeland and Nick Senzel. That tied things up at 4-4. But the Dodgers were not through scoring runs here.

Ryan Ward hit a sharp single to left field, driving home Ehrhard and putting Los Angeles up 5-4. That's how the game ended, but things got a little sticky in the Guardians' home half of the ninth inning.

With one out, Nick Mitchell doubled to left field off Dodgers reliever Ronan Kopp. Kopp, though, got the final two outs and picked up a save. 

The Dodgers are now 9-3 in Cactus League play. On Wednesday, the Dodgers will play an exhibition game against Team Mexico with first pitch set for 3:05 p.m. ET.

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