LOS ANGELES — Twenty-four hours earlier, Ketel Marte had crushed a walk-off homer to send the Dodgers home from Arizona with a gut-punch loss. Friday night at Dodger Stadium, Freddie Freeman made sure the homestand started with a different kind of ending. Freeman launched a solo shot into the right field pavilions off Kirby Yates in the bottom of the ninth, and just like that, the Dodgers were celebrating a 1-0 win over the Los Angeles Angels. Revenge tastes like a 10th home run. Los Angeles has now won 17 of its last 22 games.
Sasaki Sets the Table
All night long, Roki Sasaki was untouchable. The 23-year-old right-hander went seven innings, surrendered just two hits, walked two, and struck out 10 batters on 98 pitches. A new career high in punchouts. It was the kind of outing that reminded everyone what this rotation is capable of when Sasaki is locked in, and Friday night he was locked in from the first pitch.
The Angels could not solve him. Mike Trout went down on strikes in the first and never really threatened. Nick Madrigal doubled in the fifth, the Angels’ best moment of the night, but Sasaki stranded him without incident. In the sixth, Zach Neto reached, stole second, and still could not score. The Halos left runners on base time and again, and Sasaki refused to give them an inch when it mattered. His ERA now sits at 4.03 on the season, but that number is a flimsy portrait of what he brought to the mound Friday.
Edgardo Henriquez came on in the eighth and was equally sharp, striking out all three batters he faced. Tanner Scott navigated a minor threat in the ninth before handing it off to Blake Treinen, who retired Oswald Peraza to strand Jo Adell at second and send the game to the bottom of the ninth still scoreless.
A Game of Near-Misses
For eight and a third innings, this game was a chess match with no pieces falling. The Dodgers had their moments. Freeman singled sharply to center in the fourth and Mookie Betts drew a walk to put two on with one out, but Will Smith struck out looking to end the threat. In the seventh, Will Smith walked again with two outs, and Alex Call kept it alive, only for the inning to die quietly on a pop-out to the pitcher.
Reid Detmers was equally stingy on the other side, going six innings and allowing just two hits while striking out six. The Angels cycled through four pitchers total, and none of them cracked, until Kirby Yates jogged out for the ninth with a 0-0 tie and a chance to send it to extras.
He faced one batter.
Freeman Ends It in One Swing
Freddie Freeman stepped to the plate to lead off the ninth. No drama, no long count. He got a pitch he liked from Yates and hit it out to center, the ball carrying deep into the right field pavilions for his 10th home run of the season. Walk-off. Ballgame. Done.
The dugout emptied. The crowd erupted. And whatever sting lingered from the Marte walk-off the night before vanished in an instant. Yates dropped to 0-2 on the season with a 4.82 ERA. Treinen picked up the win to improve to 3-1. Freeman finished 2-for-3 with a walk and the only run that mattered.
It was that kind of night. Three hits total for the Dodgers. Shohei Ohtani went 0-for-4. The top of the order was quiet all evening. None of that mattered because Sasaki gave the team a chance to win every single inning, and Freeman cashed it in with one swing. The Dodgers have won 17 of their last 22 games.
Up Next
Yoshinobu Yamamoto takes the mound Saturday against Angels right-hander Jack Kochanowicz. First pitch at Dodger Stadium is set for 7:10 p.m. PT.
