Dodgers Rally to Thrilling Comeback Against Padres
During a lively night at Dodger Stadium themed around “One Piece,” Aki Sasaki faced an unexpected disaster on the mound.
Incredibly, the Dodgers managed to flip the script and recover after a disastrous beginning. Sasaki, struggling profoundly, dug the team into a six-run deficit in a nightmarish first three innings.
Yet, the Dodgers responded with a remarkable turnaround, scoring 12 unanswered runs and ultimately winning 12-7.
This thrilling comeback was witnessed by a season-high crowd of 54,081, many of whom participated in the giveaway of team hats and trading cards from the anime series. The rollercoaster of events was surreal.
To start, Sasaki’s performance was the epitome of struggles. He gave up a double right off the bat, followed by a wild pitch, and then a two-run homer to Manny Machado after a fastball that found its center.
The nightmare continued from there.
In the second inning, he allowed Jackson Merrill to hit a home run on a high slider, then watched as Xander Bogaerts hit a double on another pitch that caught too much of the zone. Following a four-pitch walk to Fernando Tatis Jr., Sasaki then surrendered a three-run home run to Jake Cronenworth, who had two strikes against him.
Despite this, Sasaki managed to get four more outs without allowing any additional damage. By the end of the road trip, however, he had accumulated seven hits (all doubles or homers), issued two walks due to ongoing command issues, and raised his season ERA to 5.40, with a particularly troubling 10.06 in his last four starts.
The only bit of luck was that he registered a no-decision.
Immediately after Sasaki’s struggles, the Padres sent their own pitcher out to the mound, but he also faced difficulties. Dalton Rushing smashed a two-run homer off San Diego starter Randy Vasquez during the second inning. They pushed across two more runs in the third, sparked by a double from Max Muncy and a single by Kyle Tucker.
San Diego’s usually reliable bullpen stepped in, but unlike the Dodgers, who only allowed one run after Sasaki’s early exit, the Padres couldn’t recover. The Dodgers managed to build a substantial lead by the fourth inning, thanks to a two-run double from Andy Pages and an RBI double from Mookie Betts, who returned to the lineup after a brief stint on the sidelines.
As the game progressed, Rushing and Tommy Edman hit back-to-back doubles, and a stolen base by Edman followed by a wild pitch resulted in another run. In total, the Dodgers ended with a season-high 17 hits, including four each from Rushing and Tucker, while Betts, Muncy, and Edman contributed two each. Remarkably, the Padres only scored three additional runs after Sasaki left the game, with a single run coming in the ninth inning, completely reversing what initially looked to be a disaster.
It’s pretty rare to see such a large deficit flipped so decisively.
What It Means
The game exemplified how the Dodgers have distanced themselves from the Padres in the NL West standings, currently leading by 13 games. Over the past two months, the Dodgers have gone on a hot streak, winning 33 of their last 45 games. On the flip side, the Padres’ lineup, once among the worst in the league, is now heading in the opposite direction, currently in the midst of a six-game losing streak.
In just that period, Padres pitchers have allowed a staggering 65 runs—a franchise record for the worst stretch of games. The trend began with a significant loss to the Dodgers that saw them score 15 runs last Saturday. Strangely enough, Thursday’s loss felt particularly painful.
Who Is Hot
Dalton Rushing, a week ago, seemed to be at a low point in his career, but he’s recently turned things around. After struggling with an 0-for-12 stretch and publicly clashing with Shohei Ohtani, he stepped up with a stellar performance on Thursday, hitting four times and driving in four runs.
His contributions were crucial to the Dodgers’ comeback: a homer in the second inning, a single in the fourth, a leadoff double in the fifth, a sacrifice fly in the sixth, and an RBI in the eighth. All five hits came off his bat at over 99 mph. In his last five games, he’s made eight hits out of 18 at-bats.
On Friday, Rushing’s next challenge is to catch for Ohtani again. Although there was a hiccup in their recent communication, the two are expected to be in better sync this time around.
Who Is Not?
As for Sasaki…
A month ago, he seemed to be finding his rhythm with some solid command and consistent velocity. Now, though, the 24-year-old looks even more troubled. His fastball has declined in speed, averaging under 98 mph for two consecutive starts—a drop he hasn’t experienced since May. His command issues have resurfaced as well, with a series of mistakes both inside and outside the zone apparent during Thursday’s game.
What’s next for this once-promising star from Japan remains uncertain.
With injured rotation members Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow recuperating, time is ticking for Sasaki to regain his footing.
To the Next
Looking ahead, Ohtani (8-2, 1.58 ERA) is set to face off against Padres ace Michael King (5-7, 3.55 ERA) as the Dodgers aim to capitalize even further on the struggling Padres.
