Sasaki's best start of '26 spoiled as Dodgers drop 4th straight

ST. LOUIS -- On a night when Roki Sasaki put together arguably one of his best big league starts and the bullpen put up zeros behind him, the Dodgers didn't present much of a threat until they were down to their final out.

The Dodgers fell, 3-2, on Saturday night at Busch Stadium, dropping the first two games of their weekend series against the Cardinals. They scored twice in the top of the ninth inning to put pressure on St. Louis, but ultimately fell short, continuing the cold spell for an L.A. offense that has been tepid for nearly two weeks as the team's season-high losing streak hit four games.

Sasaki, who has been a wild card in his second big league season, rebounded from a three-run third inning -- which began with back-to-back doubles and a Jordan Walker two-run homer before he recorded an out -- for the second quality start of his career. He struck out four, walked two and allowed five hits while completing six innings for the first time this year on a career-high 104 pitches.

Short of picking up a bat and stepping in against Cardinals right-hander Michael McGreevy, Sasaki did all he could to put his team in position to end its skid. The Dodgers created some opportunities against McGreevy, but their momentum was often short-lived, as they hit into four double plays in the first five innings.

That has been a theme over the past 11 games dating back to April 21, in which opponents have held the Dodgers to four runs or fewer eight times. They have gone 4-7 in that span.