A one-game blip? Or has Dodgers Roki Sasaki lost his magic?

SAN DIEGO – The Dodgers can’t drop out of the Tarik Skubal sweepstakes just yet.As much as Dave Roberts tried to make the case that Friday night was an aberration, the Dodgers can’t possibly know what they have in Roki Sasaki.Not after Bad Roki suddenly resurfaced in a 7-1 loss to the San Diego Padres at Petco Park.Sasaki pitched the way he did at the start of the season.His velocity was down.He had no idea where the ball was going.He gave up three runs over four innings, walking five batters in the process.The question now is whether Sasaki has really come to understand his delivery as well as he claims.Because if he doesn’t, and if he was overly reliant on feel over the last month, there is a real danger he could revert to his early-season form.“I don’t think that will happen,” Sasaki said in Japanese.Sasaki will have to identify and address whatever went wrong between now and Thursday, when he is expected to pitch against the Padres again, this time at Dodger Stadium. “In my mind, to some degree, I have an idea of what I have to do with my delivery,” he said.

“It’s a matter of whether I can replicate that.That’s what everyone battles every time.

The quality of that was low today and I think that was the reason (I didn’t pitch well).” California's top news, sports and entertainment delivered to your inbox every day.Please provide a valid email.

By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.Never miss a story Sasaki had a couple of promising starts in mid-May, but his season really entered a different phase in a game against the Philadelphia Phillies at the end of that month.That was the night Sasaki rediscovered his fastball, touching 100 mph for the first time this season.“This was the game in which I was able to pitch most like me,” Sasaki said that night.Sasaki averaged 98.5 mph with his fastball against the Phillies, 1.5 mph faster than his season ...