There was doubt surrounding the abilities of Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Roki Sasaki after he had two shaky performances in Tokyo and in his Dodger Stadium debut.
But Sasaki silenced his critics Saturday against a red hot Philadelphia Phillies lineup.
The right-hander retired 12 of 17 batters he faced after giving up back to back singles leading to a run in the first inning. It was the best start of Sasaki’s Major League career thus far, as he lasted four innings for the first time.
The Phillies lineup was 0-for-6 against Sasaki’s splitter, which was deemed unhittable throughout his unique free agency process.