Roki Sasaki, Mookie Betts help Dodgers win series…
The first-place Dodgers may not have a lot significant baseball forward of them the remainder of this common season.
Still, shedding a series to the last-place Rockies is an embarrassment that –– regardless of their place in the standings or odds to win the division –– is best to be averted.
On Wednesday, that’s precisely what the membership did, successful a 4-3 rubber match at Dodger Stadium thanks to a go-ahead eighth-inning RBI single from Mookie Betts that got here at the end of an spectacular nine-pitch at-bat.
The Dodgers hadn’t had many high quality at-bats for a lot of Wednesday, not since scoring three runs in the first inning.
After that, they had been held quiet by debuting Colorado starter Gabriel Hughes, while the Rockies received back into the sport by tagging Roki Sasaki with three runs in a six-inning start.
Roki Sasaki held the Rockies to three runs over six innings in the Dodgers 4-3 win over the Rockies on July 8, 2026 in Los Angeles. AP
Nevertheless, Sasaki did enough to at least keep the sport tied. The Dodgers’ bullpen then wiggled out of a two-on, no-out (then bases-loaded, one-out) jam in the top of the eighth. And finally, the crew’s offense got here back to life in their last journey to the plate in the underside of the inning.
The rally began with singles from Tommy Edman and Freddie Freeman against Rockies reliever Antonio Senzatela.
That introduced up Betts, whose latest scorching streak had cooled off during a 1-for-15 skid coming into the night time.
Betts shortly into a two-strike gap, but fouled off three different putaway pitches (a cutter, curveball and 99 mph fastball) to ultimately work the depend full.
On pitch No. 9, Senzatela left a sinker over an excessive amount of of the plate. Betts roped it into the middle to break the 3-3 tie.
With a ninth-inning save from Tanner Scott, the Dodgers would go on to clinch the series.
An ugly consequence had been averted. Their march toward October continued apace.
What it means
The Dodgers (61-33) keep on stacking wins, securing a fifth-consecutive series victory on Wednesday to preserve the best report in the majors.
With just one more weekend to go until the All-Star break, they’ve a two-game lead on the Milwaukee Brewers for the top-seed in the National League, and a 6 ½ sport edge of the Atlanta Braves for a first-round bye.
Mookie Betts rips the go-ahead RBI single in the eighth inning of the Dodgers’ win over the Rockies. AP
Who’s scorching
Sasaki, at least by the end of the night time.
Per week eliminated from his latest setback –– a three-inning, six-run clunker against the Padres in which the Dodgers believed he was tipping his pitches –– the younger right-hander was veering toward another catastrophe early on Wednesday, squandering the crew’s early 3-0 lead on back-to-back homers in the second and, after a leadoff stroll and pivotal wild pitch an inning later, a sacrifice fly in the third.
In the fourth, he virtually went over the cliff, dealing with a two-on, no-out jam that threatened to knock him out of the sport.
This time, however, the Japanese phenom recovered.
He received out of the fourth unscathed with the help of back-to-back strikeouts, both of which featured fastballs up to 99-100 mph.
Roki Sasaki delivers a pitch during the Dodgers’ victory over the Rockies. Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images
He then proceeded to retire his next six in a row after that, punctuating with a good snag on a comebacker in the fifth and two more strikeouts (one with his splitter, the other with his slider) in the sixth.
The outing accomplished an uneven first half for Sasaki, who hits the All-Star break with a 3-5 report and 5.33 ERA. But, at least this one will go down as a high quality outing, snapping a latest four-start funk in which he suffered an ERA over 10.00.
Who’s not
The Dodgers did a lot of good in the first inning, leaping on debuting Rockies starter Gabriel Hughes for three fast runs after a single from Tommy Edman, a double from Freddie Freeman, walks from Mookie Betts and Max Muncy, and a two-run single from Kyle Tucker.
With two outs in the inning, however, Alex Call suffered some ABS infamy.
On back-to-back pitches, the backup outfielder tried to problem called strikes. Both instances, he was mistaken. Not only did it burn both of the Dodgers’ ABS challenges, but led to an eventual strikeout that retired the facet and allowed Hughes to settle down.
Starting with that, he retired 15 in a row as the Rockies received back in the sport.
Up next
The Dodgers are off on Thursday before ending the first half with a three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks this weekend. Shohei Ohtani (8-2, 1.79 ERA) will start on the mound in Friday’s opener.
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