ANAHEIM -- It took just five pitches for Roki Sasaki to navigate his way through uncharted territory.
In his first 15 big league starts, Sasaki had never taken the mound beyond the sixth inning, let alone recorded an out. Given his first opportunity to do so against the Angels on Sunday afternoon, Sasaki made quick work of the three batters he faced in the seventh.
Jorge Soler grounded out to shortstop on a first-pitch fastball. Yoán Moncada followed suit with a chopper to first base on an 0-2 splitter. And Jo Adell lifted a first-pitch forkball to left field, where Teoscar Hernández caught it to ensure Sasaki would complete seven innings for the first time as a Major Leaguer.
Not only did Sasaki set a career high with eight strikeouts, but he also didn't walk a batter for the first time in a big league start. His seven innings of one-run ball set the tone as the Dodgers rolled to a Freeway Series sweep with a 10-1 win in the finale at Angel Stadium. They've won five straight, tying their season high.
"It’s really good momentum for him to carry forth," catcher Dalton Rushing said. "But at the same time, there's opportunities for him to get even better. We know that's not his ceiling. We know what he just did is obviously the best we've seen up to this point, but I trust that that guy's got a lot more in the tank, and I’m going to continue to push him."
While Sasaki's growth has been far from linear, the Dodgers have seen him make strides every time he takes the mound. They were hoping for this kind of evolution after his first year in the big leagues, when he struggled in a season-opening stint in the rotation before spending more than four months on the IL with a right shoulder impingement, then returning and dazzling in relief in the postseason.
Sasaki has been somewhat of a wild card again in his sophomore season, but the flashes of his potential have been there. Not only did he seem to put everything together on Sunday, but he sounded as confident as he's been about his progress.
"In terms of the fastball, I want more velo. The offspeed pitches, I feel pretty good about it," Sasaki said through interpreter Kensuke Okubo. "So I'll just keep continuing working on it and make sure I'll be in a better spot."
All around, this weekend was an opportunity for the Dodgers to get right. The Angels hold the worst record in baseball (16-31), and they're tied for 27th in batting average (.227) and 26th in runs (186) among all Major League teams.
But Sasaki has not always performed against teams that he matches up well with on paper. An outing like Sunday's is just what the Dodgers needed to see from the young right-hander, especially with instability in the rotation due to injuries to Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell.
Sasaki and Rushing sequenced masterfully, mixing an arsenal that has gained two pitches since the end of last season: a slider-cutter hybrid that Sasaki added in the offseason, and a harder splitter that Sasaki introduced three starts ago (which is now classified separately from his forkball). Sasaki got strikeouts on all four of his pitches and generated a career-high 18 whiffs.
The four-seamer has been one of Sasaki's weaker pitches during his time in the Majors, lacking the triple-digit heat he had while beginning his career in Nippon Professional Baseball. With more reliable secondaries, the fastball has been playing better. Sasaki got Angels hitters to whiff at it six times, a career high in a single game.
"When he threw that splitter, and it matched plane with the fastball, it's hard to tell the two apart," Angels first baseman Nolan Schanuel said. "Just came and threw his best today."
As Sasaki's arsenal has grown, manager Dave Roberts has also seen the 24-year-old right-hander's mentality shift -- not only in the way he's gained confidence on the mound, but in his increased openness to working with the coaching staff to find ways to get better.
That work behind the scenes is starting to make an impact on the field.
"I think it's freed him up, and I don't think that he's afraid to fail," Roberts said. "I think he has confidence in who he is as a big league pitcher, and now we're seeing some of the fruits."