ATLANTA – The Dodgers saw Roki Sasaki exit early in an eventual 6-5 walk-off loss to the Braves on Wednesday night at Truist Park.
Beyond the final score, the larger fallout centered on the rotation. Manager Dave Roberts confirmed postgame that Sasaki will be placed on the 15-day injured list with a right middle finger blister, putting left-hander Eric Lauer in position to take his spot.
The rotation was nearly at full strength with the return of Tyler Glasnow on Tuesday and Blake Snell on Aug. 11. Shohei Ohtani is expected to rejoin the rotation within the next week, as well.
Sasaki’s night ended abruptly in the bottom of the fourth inning. After allowing a sacrifice fly to Austin Riley and a ground-rule double to Sean Murphy, Sasaki was visited on the mound by the Dodgers' athletic trainer before exiting with one out.
After the game, Sasaki explained through interpreter Kensuke Okubo that the blister developed without warning.
"When I was facing the first hitter in the fourth inning, I actually didn't feel anything coming beforehand," Sasaki said. "My skin just ripped off, and then after that, it got worse. ... I thought I was able to manage at first because the skin was still there, but after that, it kept getting worse, and I think it affected my slider afterwards."
Sasaki was charged with four runs on six hits and two walks over 3 1/3 innings. The injury halts a solid stretch for the 24-year-old right-hander, who entered Wednesday with a 2.31 ERA over his previous six starts.
Roberts noted postgame that the severity of the blister leaves the team with little choice regarding an IL stint.
"It was a pretty good blister. It just came out of nowhere," Roberts said. "It's going to be an IL. I think there's just no way we can avoid it given the severity of the blister. ... It puts Lauer in play. I'm not sure what day he's going to start, but where we're at, we'll bring somebody tomorrow to fill [Sasaki’s] spot, and it'll be a relief pitcher."
Sasaki's early departure forced the bullpen to absorb 5 1/3 innings, as Edgardo Henriquez, Lauer, Evan Phillips, Brock Stewart and Tanner Scott followed.
Lauer, tasked with two pivotal relief innings, anchored the effort in the fifth and sixth. Despite allowing a solo home run to Murphy, Lauer capped his outing with a 14-pitch battle against Mauricio Dubón, eventually inducing a flyout to right field with two runners aboard to keep Los Angeles within striking distance.
That perseverance allowed the Dodgers to erase a two-run deficit in the seventh on an RBI single from Mookie Betts and a bases-loaded walk by Tommy Edman. Yet, the night ultimately turned on key opportunities left on the table – most notably when the Dodgers left the bases loaded in the eighth, three of their 11 runners left on in the game.
"Creating traffic, getting guys on base is one part of the equation, and then you've got to finish the inning," Roberts said. "We still put up five runs, but yeah, there were a lot more runners tonight. ... It's a tough loss, and then obviously you're staring down Chris Sale tomorrow to salvage a series. It's certainly not a comfortable position, but we're going to go out there and try to salvage a series."
Those missed chances loomed large in the bottom of the ninth against Scott. After a two-out double by Lane Thomas and an intentional walk to Riley, Ha-Seong Kim worked a 3-0 count and then fouled off three straight pitches before lining a 3-2 fastball into left field for the walk-off win.
"[I was thinking] get him out. I mean, I think I threw too many fastballs, and especially down [the middle], then it's probably not good," Scott said of the final pitch. "I should just move on to the next day, put this one behind me."
By winning the first two games of this three-game set, Atlanta clinched the season series against Los Angeles, meaning it would win any potential tiebreakers between the two teams. This is important because the Dodgers (80-53) are now just two games ahead of the Braves (78-55) in the battle for the second of the National League’s two available byes.
The Dodgers wrap up their three-game series on Thursday night, turning to Yoshinobu Yamamoto opposite Sale in the finale.