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Sasaki’s Seven-Runout and Freeman’s Walk-Off Highlight a Night of Pitching Gems and Power Surges

A dominant start, huge slams and stalled bullpens are shifting short-term team fortunes by exposing rotation depth, relief risks and injury-driven lineup changes.

Overview

  • Roki Sasaki threw seven shutout innings with a career-high 10 strikeouts and the Dodgers won 1-0 on Freddie Freeman’s ninth-inning walk-off on Friday.
  • The San Francisco Giants erupted for an 18-3 rout of the Cubs as Matt Chapman hit a grand slam and drove in a career-best eight runs in a game that featured seven Giant homers.
  • The Houston Astros split recent games in Houston when Isaac Paredes hit a three-run homer in a 5-1 win over the A’s before Houston lost 5-1 to the Pirates in the rubber game.
  • Arizona’s pitching depth faltered as Merrill Kelly struggled in a blowout loss to Washington and recalled reliever Philip Abner surrendered a grand slam while other bullpen call-ups also had rough outings.
  • At the minor-league level Chris Suero hit a three-run walk-off for Double-A Binghamton and teams are adjusting rosters and workloads as strong starts, late-inning hitting and rehab timelines like Jose Altuve’s shape near-term decisions.