Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts spoke about his confidence in relief pitcher Roki Sasaki after deploying him out of the bullpen on back-to-back nights.
Sasaki closed Game 3 of the NLCS for the Dodgers on Thursday, earning his third MLB save, and came back in on Friday to pitch the ninth. The right-hander has become a reliable arm out of the Dodgers’ bullpen over the course of the postseason, and has earned the trust of his teammates and — more importantly — Roberts.
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“I have confidence in Roki,” Roberts said. “I trust him. I believe in his talent. I believe in his mind. And so, yeah, I wasn’t too worried about the back-to-back.
“In the postseason there’s a lot of things that people, players don’t ever do. But if you want to win a championship, you’ve got to be able to be willing to take chances. And, for me, I was completely confident in Roki tonight.”
Roberts didn’t misplace his faith in Sasaki, who came in for a scoreless ninth inning — as he has done in all but one outing in the postseason. Sasaki has made seven appearances, pitching a total of eight innings over the course of the playoffs, while allowing just one run. He has recorded his first three MLB saves throughout this postseason, and has looked great while doing so.
His first appearance this postseason came in a fairly low-leverage situation against the Cincinnati Reds in Game 2 of the Wild Card Series, and he kept a clean inning as the Dodgers advanced to the NLDS against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Against the Phillies, Sasaki earned the first two saves of his career in a hostile Philadelphia environment without allowing a run. His best performance of the postseason, though, came in Game 4 of the NLDS, when he threw three perfect innings in a tie game, which the Dodgers went on to win.
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Sasaki’s scoreless inning streak ended in Game 1 against the Brewers, however he bounced back with scoreless performances in Games 3 and 4.
The Dodgers are now just four wins away from defending their World Series title, and have a week to rest before meeting either the Seattle Mariners or the Toronto Blue Jays in the Fall Classic. Regardless of who wins, the series begins next Friday, Oct. 24.
Photo Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
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