Steve Webb
LOS ANGELES — Saturday night at Dodger Stadium was one for the wrong kind of record books. In front of a stunned home crowd, the Dodgers suffered a 16–0 blowout loss to the Chicago Cubs — the franchise’s worst shutout loss in 60 years.
After the game, manager Dave Roberts didn’t try to spin it. “It got really ugly toward the end,” he said. “But we saved our pitching… I feel really good about tomorrow.”
The scoreline masks a bright spot: rookie Roki Sasaki turned in a strong start, allowing just one run over five innings. He struck out five and walked only one, looking increasingly comfortable on a big-league mound.
“For me, that was the silver lining,” Roberts said. “It was probably the most important piece of the game. He settled in, found a rhythm, and looked really sharp.”
Sasaki has now made back-to-back promising outings, and Roberts confirmed this was the first time the rookie worked into the fifth inning. “Like I told him afterward, now we can start pushing him a little more,” he added.
Things fell apart in the seventh inning, when reliever Ben Casparius entered and things sprialed out of control. A close game quickly turned into a rout, as the Cubs poured on runs in what became a disastrous inning.
“Ben just didn’t command the baseball,” Roberts said. “The slider wasn’t sharp, the fastball was missing spots… especially that 1-2 pitch to Carson Kelly — supposed to be away, ends up middle, and he hits it out.”
Roberts was quick to put the outing in perspective. “He’s been really good for us, last year and earlier this season. I’m not going to put too much weight on one bad night.”
The Dodgers’ offense, meanwhile, couldn’t get anything going against Cubs starter Ben Brown, who tossed six shutout innings. The Dodgers threatened briefly in the first with a couple of soft hits, but never capitalized.
“Brown was really good tonight,” Roberts said. “Fastball, breaking ball, velocity — he synced it all up. Outside of that early first, we didn’t really threaten.”
The Dodgers mustered just three hits on the night and failed to score for the first time all season — and in a historic way at that.
With the game out of hand, Miguel Rojas came in to pitch the eighth and ninth, offering some levity in a lopsided affair.
“He gave us two innings — and we needed every bit of that,” Roberts said with a small smile. And as for Rojas’s celebrity pitching impressions? “He did a good job… shows he’s watching the games.”
Roberts emphasized that the team’s focus now turns to Saturday’s series finale. With Tyler Glasnow on the mound and a fully rested bullpen, the Dodgers aim to bounce back quickly.
It was an embarrassing night, no question — but as Roberts made clear, this team isn’t dwelling on it. The next game can’t come soon enough.
Have you subscribed to the Bleed Los Podcast YouTube channel? Be sure to ring the notification bell to watch player interviews, participate in shows & promotions, and stay up to date on all Dodgers news and rumors!
