Roki Sasaki dominant for 5 innings as Dodgers beat Mariners

LOS ANGELES — Roki Sasaki’s new glove is big enough to cover five innings.

Sasaki was dominant for that long Thursday night, looking like every bit of the player the Dodgers have dreamed about for two seasons. He ran into trouble in the sixth, but the Dodgers had built enough cushion to cruise home to a 6-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners.

The win gave the Dodgers their fourth consecutive series victory since the All-Star break.

Sasaki came back from that break with a mysteriously large glove – not large enough to blot out the sun but with enough volume to hide the pitches he might have been tipping during the first half. The young right-hander won’t admit he was tipping his pitches, saying his glove only looks bigger because his face is smaller.

So is his ERA since the break. In three starts with his new glove – oh, and a fastball that continues to hit triple digits more consistently than it did before – Sasaki has allowed just four runs (three earned) in 18 innings while striking out 21 and walking five.

“It’s not the glove,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “The second half when he came out that first start, you just saw that I think he just kind of decided that it’s time to go and finish strong. It’s a new half and it’s a new beginning. You’ve seen a different player, to be quite honest. There’s a lot more, as (catcher) Dalton (Rushing) said, there’s a lot more confidence. Not just kind of the in-between and uncertain. I use that word conviction a lot. There’s a lot of conviction. So it’s been really good.”

Sasakie retired 15 of the 18 batters he faced in the first five innings on Thursday, allowing two singles and a walk while striking out seven. After getting an MLB-career high 21 swings-and-misses in seven innings against the New York Mets last week, he got another 18 in five innings in this start, half of them with his splitter.

“I think it all goes back to throwing ‘Strike One,’” Rushing said. “If you get ‘Strike One,’ I think everyone knows how good his splitter is. It gives you a little bit of leeway as far as execution. You just throw it around the zone and you get a lot of swings like we saw tonight.

“It’s easier to check off on his splitter if you’re 1-0, 2-0 as a hitter. It’s a little tougher when you’re 0-1, 0-2, 1-2 – pitcher leverage counts. I think the message to him is continue to get ‘Strike One’ and allow hitters to get themselves out after that.”

Meanwhile, the Dodgers had Mariners right-hander Bryan Woo right where they wanted him – on the road.

In Seattle, Woo is an elite pitcher – 6-0 with a 2.20 ERA and 0.77 WHIP, holding batters to a .167 average in nine starts at T-Mobile Park.

On the road, he has fewer bars. He came into Thursday’s game at Dodger Stadium with a 1-7 record, 6.52 ERA and 2.26 WHIP, batters having their way to the tune of a .304 average in 11 starts away from home.

Thursday won’t help those numbers.

The Dodgers got to him for two runs in the first inning. After Tommy Edman (filling in for Shohei Ohtani at leadoff) drew a walk and Andy Pages singled, Woo struck out Freddie Freeman and Max Muncy. But Mookie Betts lined a hanging slider into the left-center field gap for a two-run double.

In the fourth inning, Kyle Tucker walked and Teoscar Hernandez beat out an infield single to put two runners on for Rushing. This time, Woo’s slider was located well, down and in. But Rushing went and got it, lifting it high into the air and 400 feet down the line for a three-run home run and a 5-0 Dodger lead.

Sasaki wasted some of that equity when he reached the sixth inning. Facing the Mariners’ lineup for a third time, he gave up a triple to Cole Young, an RBI double to Randy Arozarena and walked Dominic Canzone. After getting Julio Rodriguez to line out to third base, he gave up another single and walked Cal Raleigh to force in a run.

“I think sequence-wise I should be really careful,” Sasaki said through his interpreter. “But at the sixth inning, three times through the hitting order, I should be really more careful.”

That was it for Sasaki. Jack Dreyer worked out of the bases-loaded situation without allowing any more runs and ended up getting four outs on eight pitches.

Teoscar Hernandez got some of the cushion back with a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth. It was his first home run since July 3 and only his second in 89 plate appearances since returning from his hamstring injury in late June.

“Getting better, timing-wise,” Hernandez said. “Swinging at better pitches. Like I always say, if the timing is there, and I’m swinging at good pitches to hit … positive things are going to happen. So feeling really better. It’s just trying to be more consistent.”

Edgardo Henriquez, Tanner Scott and Edwin Diaz handled the final three innings but had to strand five baserunners in that time. Diaz struck out two after giving up a one-out single in the ninth, earning the save for the second consecutive night since returning from the injured list.