Wednesday, March 19, 2025
Copyrighted by Sarah Morris, 2025
At Tokyo Dome, the Los Angeles Dodgers completed the sweep of the Chicago Cubs with a 6-to-3 victory. Without Freddie Freeman, the Dodgers hit three home runs by Tommy Edman, Shohei Ohtani, and Kiké Hernández. Roki Sasaki made his major league debut and had difficulty finding the strike zone. The Dodger bullpen performed outstandingly.
Freddie Freeman won’t play again, but the Dodgers expect him to play on Sunday when they begin the Freeway series against the Angels. Freeman could have played Wednesday, but the team wants to be cautious with him. Last offseason, Freeman played with torn cartilage, practically a broken rib. His soreness is in the same area he played with during the 2024 postseason. The Dodgers don’t want Freeman to miss a large portion of the 2025 season.
Roki Sasaki was making his major league debut. Since childhood, Sasaki has dreamed of making his major league debut but never dreamed of doing it in Japan. At 23, Sasaki is the third youngest Japanese player to play in the major leagues. If he has visible nerves, everybody should understand.
Against Justin Steele, the Dodgers went quietly in the first.
Though during warm-ups, Sasaki was wilder than a wildcat, he retired the Cubs in order in the first even picking up his first major league strikeout.
To open the second, Will Smith walked. Max Muncy doubled him to third. Smith scored on a passed ball. Kiké Hernández used a sacrifice fly to score Muncy. Michael Conforto singled but was erased on a double play hit by Miguel Rojas.
Sasaki walked Michael Busch to start the second inning and allowed a stolen base. He walked Dansby Swanson and coaxed the hitter hit into a double play to end the inning.
With two outs in the third, Tommy Edman homered.
With an out in the third, Sasaki allowed an infield single and stolen base. He walked a batter. He issued another walk to load the bases. He walked in a run. He struck out two hitters to end the inning.
Smith opened the fourth with a double, and Kiké Hernández socked a two-run homer.
Luis Garcia relieved Sasaki in the fourth, and with two outs, he issued a walk and allowed a single. He gave up a run-producing single. He escaped out of a jam.
With an out in the fifth, Shohei Ohtani launched one for his first home run.
Jack Dreyer, a rookie, allowed an infield single with two outs in the fifth and a run-producing double. He escaped from the jam.
The Dodgers went in order in the sixth.
Landon Knack relieved Dreyer in the sixth and allowed a single with an out. He wiggled out of the jam.
In the seventh, Michael Conforto walked but was erased on a double play hit into by Rojas. Andy Pages doubled.
Knack was perfect in the seventh.
The Dodgers didn’t do anything offensively in the eighth.
Kirby Yates relieved Knack in the eighth, and with two outs, he allowed a single. He got out of the problem.
With an out in the ninth, Rojas and Pages walked. Ohtani walked to load the bases. The Dodgers squandered the scoring opportunity.
Alex Vesia relieved Yates in the ninth, and with two outs, he allowed a double. He issued a walk. Thanks to a fabulous defensive play by Rojas, Vesia earned the save.
