Though it wasn't the cleanest ninth inning in Los Angeles Dodgers history, with Dave Roberts having to go to Alex Vesia to bail out Blake Treinen after giving up two runs and three hits, in the end, all was right within the fandom, as Roki Sasaki came into the game 4-3 with two Philadelphia Phillies players on base and promptly got out reigning NL batting champion Trea Turner on two pitches for the win.
The legend of Sasaki continues to grow, his record remains unblemished, and when it comes to save situations, no one is better in all of baseball from a statistical standpoint, as the rookie reliever has an ERA of 0.0 on five batters faced.
Sasaki has been so good that, according to OptaState, he has accomplished a feat no one else has in MLB history, dating back to when saves were first recorded in 1969.
“Since saves became official in 1969, Roki Sasaki of the Dodgers is the only MLB pitcher to have his first 2 career saves (reg or post) both come in the postseason,” OptaStats wrote.
Now granted, unlike in his last appearance in Game 1 of the NLDS, where he surrendered a single hit and no runs with two Ks and a foul out to third base, Sasaki didn't actually have to do much pitching to get the save in Game 2 of the NLDS. After throwing 12 on Saturday, Sasaki ended up throwing just two before Freddie Freeman called game with his acrobatic catch on a bad Tommy Edman toss. With that in mind, this situation was far more stressful for the 23-year-old rookie because of how high-leverage the at-bat proved to be, with one poorly placed ball potentially costing the Dodgers the game in the blink of an eye. In that moment, Sasaki stayed cool and gave Turner something he couldn't put much mustard on, and in the end, that proved the difference between a win and returning to LA 1-1.
Since saves became official in 1969, Roki Sasaki of the @Dodgers is the only MLB pitcher to have his first 2 career saves (reg or post) both come in the postseason. pic.twitter.com/O396pi9M9p
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) October 7, 2025