Los Angeles Dodgers at New York Mets

Right-hander Roki Sasaki had one of his best games of the season and helped the Dodgers to a 4-2 victory over the Mets at Citi Field on Friday night. Sasaki pitched a season-high-tying seven innings, allowing a run on three hits and striking out nine batters. Even more impressive, he had a career-high 21 swings and misses, mostly on the splitter. His only blemish was allowing a solo homer to Luis Robert Jr. in the second inning. The mechanical changes that Sasaki made before his start against the Yankees last Friday proved to be a godsend. Mets manager Andy Green said his team had a scouting report on what not to do against the right-hander. The report said if a hitter chases beneath the zone, he is going to be in trouble. The Mets were in trouble for most of the game. "Now, it's one thing to say, 'Don't do that.' It's another thing to pick up his split-finger and see the pitch, and we had a hard time with that tonight,” Green said. “Credit to him, he threw a lot of good strike-to-ball splits and sliders as well. We found ourselves outside the zone more than we needed to. And frankly, you don't beat one of the best teams in baseball by scoring two runs. It's just really hard to beat them like that." Sasaki’s velocity was down from his last outing. He had one pitch that was clocked at 100 mph compared to the 21 pitches that reached the century mark against the Yankees last Friday at Yankee Stadium. However, Sasaki felt the split was its best against the Mets. It also helped that Dalton Rushing caught a great game. “It all worked out in the gameplan,” Sasaki said through interpreter Kensuke Okubo. “When I throw off a new mound like today, velo is usually a little down. So if I'm able to repeat, I think I will have more confidence and keep attacking more.”