Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts talked about his faith in relief pitcher Aki Sasaki, who he removed from the bullpen on consecutive nights.
Sasaki earned his third save in MLB with a shutout in Game 3 of the NL CS against the on Thursday, and returned on Friday to pitch his ninth. The right-hander became a reliable arm out of the ‘ bullpen throughout the postseason, earning the trust of his teammates and most importantly, Roberts.
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“I trust Loki,” Roberts said. “I believe in him. I believe in his talent. I believe in his spirit. So, yeah, I wasn’t too worried about the streak.”
“There are a lot of things in the postseason that people and players don’t do. But if you want to win a championship, you have to be willing to take chances. And for me, I had complete confidence in Loki tonight.”
Manager Roberts did not betray his trust in Sasaki, who pitched a scoreless nine innings, as he has done in all but one postseason game. Sasaki appeared in seven games during the playoffs, pitching a total of eight innings and allowing just one run. He was outstanding throughout this postseason, recording his first three saves in MLB.
His first appearance this postseason came in a fairly low-leverage situation in Game 2 of the Wild Card Series against the Cincinnati Reds, and he pitched a shutout in the ‘ NLDS advance against the Philadelphia Phillies.
In the game against the Phillies on enemy territory in Philadelphia, Sasaki achieved the first two saves of his career with no runs allowed. But his best performance in the postseason came in Game 4 of the NLDS, when he pitched three perfect innings in a tied game and the went on to win.
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Sasaki’s streak of consecutive scoreless innings came to an end in Game 1 against the Brewers, but he bounced back with scoreless performances in Games 3 and 4.
The are now four wins away from defending their World Series title and have one week of rest before facing either the Seattle Mariners or Toronto Blue Jays in the Fall Classic. No matter who wins, the series begins next Friday, October 24th.
Photo credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
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