Roki Sasaki, who is active with the Los Angeles Dodgers, showcased his best pitching performance since making his big league debut, but became the losing pitcher due to the silence of the batting lineup.

Sasaki started on the 13th (Korean time) in a home game against the Chicago Cubs at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California, pitching 5 innings, allowing 4 hits (1 home run), 2 walks, 3 strikeouts, and 1 earned run.

The start was good. In the first inning, Sasaki completed a perfect inning by striking out IAAN Happ and Kyle Tucker and getting Seiya Suzuki to fly out. In the second inning, he was hit by lead-off batter Michael Busch. On a 2B-2S count, he threw the sixth pitch and allowed a left-field solo home run.

Sasaki then shut down Dansby Swanson (strikeout), Justin Turner (third base groundout), and Nico Hoerner (second base groundout). In the third inning, with one out, he faced a bases-loaded situation with a walk, a hit, and a walk. He got Seiya Suzuki out with a line drive to second base and retired Michael Busch with a fly ball to the outfield.

In the fourth inning, Sasaki struck out three batters swinging, recorded a flyout to right field, and a groundout to shortstop, completing his second perfect inning. In the fifth inning, with one out, he allowed consecutive hits to Carson Kelly and IAAN Happ. He retired Kyle Tucker (foul fly to third base) and pinch-hitter Miguel Amaya (flyout to left field). Sasaki handed over the mound to Ben Kasparius in the sixth inning, trailing 0-1.

Despite the strong performance of starter Sasaki, the Dodgers suffered a complete defeat of 0-16 due to the silence of the lineup and struggles with the bullpen.

The Dodgers fielded a starting lineup of Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Teoscar Hernández, Michael Conforto, Tommy Edman, Max Muncy, Andy Pajes, and Austin Barnes. The Cubs countered with IAAN Happ, Kyle Tucker, Seiya Suzuki, Michael Busch, Dansby Swanson, Justin Turner, Nico Hoerner, Pete Crow-Armstrong, and Carson Kelly.

Dodgers relievers Ben Kasparius and Luis Garcia surrendered a whopping 10 runs. Ohtani managed to add a hit and a stolen base. Teoscar Hernández was the only batter on the team to achieve a multi-hit game.

Cubs starter Ben Brown became the winning pitcher, pitching 6 innings, allowing 5 hits, striking out 5 batters, and not allowing any runs. Batters IAAN Happ (5 at-bats, 3 hits, 2 runs), Kyle Tucker (4 at-bats, 2 hits, 2 RBIs, 2 runs), Miguel Amaya (3 at-bats, 2 hits (1 home run), 3 RBIs, 3 runs), Michael Busch (6 at-bats, 4 hits (1 home run), 3 RBIs, 4 runs), and Carson Kelly (3 at-bats, 3 hits (2 home runs), 3 RBIs, 3 runs) all contributed evenly.

[OSEN]