Dodgers 7, Padres 0: A Bullpen Night and Sasaki's First Inning Back

Eight arms, zero runs, and a fourth inning that mattered more than the W

September 22, 2026 - Los Angeles - The Dodgers did not hand anyone a start. They handed eight relievers an inning or two and asked Roki Sasaki to look like himself again. He threw the fourth. Two strikeouts. Two two-out singles. A splitter that missed bats.

The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres 7-0 at UNIQLO Field at Dodger Stadium. Clear. 73 degrees. Wind 7 mph out to center. First pitch 7:10 p.m. Attendance 46,066. The game lasted 2 hours, 39 minutes. Los Angeles had nine hits and one error. San Diego had five hits and none.

Justin Wrobleski (12-5) got the win for a scoreless first: one hit, 25 pitches. That is how a bullpen game writes the decision. Michael King (12-10) took the loss after four innings: six hits, five earned, two walks, five strikeouts, 81 pitches. The second inning was the one he will see again.

Four walks, two singles, and a 4-0 hole

Teoscar Hernández reached in the second. Josue De Paula reached. Andy Pages reached. Tommy Edman walked, Hernández scoring. Mookie Betts walked, De Paula scoring. Freddie Freeman singled to center, Pages and Edman scoring. 4-0. King had not given up a homer. He had given up the inning anyway.

Freeman singled Betts home in the fourth. 5-0. That was the last run King allowed. Wandy Peralta threw two innings after him and watched Edman hit his eighth, a line drive to left-center in the sixth. 6-0. Griffin Canning threw two more and watched Will Smith hit his 10th to left in the seventh. 7-0.

Freeman finished 2-for-4 with three RBI. Edman went 1-for-3 with a walk, two runs, and two RBI. De Paula went 2-for-3 with a triple, a walk, and a run. Betts went 1-for-4 with a double, a walk, a run, and an RBI. Smith went 1-for-4 with the homer. Kyle Tucker singled. Max Muncy went 0-for-4. Pages walked and scored. The lineup did not need a seven-run homer night. It needed one messy inning and two balls that left the yard later.

San Diego never put a runner across. Luis Campusano went 2-for-4. Fernando Tatis Jr. went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts. Xander Bogaerts singled. Ethan Salas singled. Manny Machado walked and did not score. Jake Cronenworth went 0-for-3. Jackson Merrill went 0-for-4. The Padres left the traffic they had and never turned it into a run.

Sasaki in the fourth, Díaz in the fifth

Los Angeles activated Sasaki from the 15-day injured list before the game and optioned Emmet Sheehan and Eliezer Alfonzo to Triple-A Oklahoma City. Pages came off the IL the same day. Sasaki last pitched on August 26, when a blister on his right middle finger ended a start against the Braves.

He threw the fourth. Two strikeouts. Two two-out singles. Four whiffs, including two on the splitter. Eight fastballs at 98.7 mph, a tick above his season average of 97.8. "I was able to settle in because I had the experience last year," Sasaki said through interpreter Kensuke Okubo.

Last October he closed. He allowed one earned run in 10 2/3 postseason innings after a midseason shift to the bullpen. This year he made 23 starts (5-5, 4.60 ERA) and threw a 2.63 ERA over a seven-start stretch before the blister. Manager Dave Roberts put him back in relief with a week left and October coming.

"It's just showing that whatever it takes to help us win, knowing that any inning he throws in the postseason is going to be huge," Roberts said. "He clearly understands that."

Edwin Díaz threw a 1-2-3 fifth, two strikeouts, 22 pitches. The MLB recap called it his third scoreless outing since returning from the IL. Alex Vesia threw a scoreless second. Kyle Hurt threw two scoreless. Brock Stewart, Jack Dreyer, and Blake Treinen each threw a zero. Eight relievers, zero runs, and a win that did not need a starter to last five.

Roberts does not have a set closer. Tanner Scott leads the club with 23 saves and has blown four, two of them in September. Díaz is pitching in lower leverage while he tries to earn October work. Edgardo Henriquez is out for the regular season with a lower back strain. Sasaki is the new variable. "You just don't know where the ninth inning is going to be," Roberts said.

"I'm just going to give my best, whatever opportunity I'm given," Sasaki said. "Doesn't matter if it's a couple innings or not, just go out there and perform."

97-60, and a week to sort the 'pen

Los Angeles is 97-60, five games ahead of the Braves for the National League's second-best record and one game behind the Brewers, who hold the head-to-head tiebreaker. San Diego is 87-70. A 7-0 in late September does not clinch a seeding argument. It does let Roberts look at the arms he will actually use in October.

Wrobleski's win was one clean inning. Freeman's three RBI were two singles. Edman and Smith supplied the homers after the game had already left. Sasaki supplied the inning the recap was written about. That is a bullpen night in September when the regular season is a dress rehearsal and the other club never scores.

AthX Engine after the baseball

AthX Engine (our projection and scoring system) put Los Angeles at 17 team fantasy points, tied for second on the slate. Edman had 8 hitting FP. San Diego finished at minus-8.

Fantasy points measure the night under platform scoring rules. Share prices also move with traders through dynamic pricing. They are related. They are not the same number.

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*Sources: ESPN recap and box score, MLB.com Gameday wrap, MLB.com schedule, and AthX Engine scoring. Information only; not financial advice.*