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Dodgers lose to Rangers as Kirby Yates gives up 2-run walk-off homer

April 20, 2025

Dodgers starting pitcher Roki Sasaki works against the Texas Rangers during the first inning of a baseball game Saturday, April 19, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Jeffrey McWhorter)

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Dodgers starting pitcher Roki Sasaki works against the Texas Rangers during the first inning of a baseball game Saturday, April 19, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Jeffrey McWhorter)

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ARLINGTON, Texas — With friends like that, Kirby Yates could have used a few enemies.

Facing the Texas Rangers for the first time since leaving them as a free agent, it took just seven pitches for Yates to undo an afternoon’s work, suffer his first blown save with the Dodgers and give up a two-run walk-off home run to Adolis Garcia as the Texas Rangers beat the Dodgers, 4-3, on Saturday afternoon.

Leading 3-2 in the bottom of the ninth, the Dodgers’ nominal closer (Tanner Scott) was unavailable after pitching on three of the previous five days. Out went Yates for his first ninth inning with the Dodgers.

He looked vulnerable even while jumping out to an 0-and-2 count against Josh Smith. The left-handed hitter ripped a long fly ball down the right-field line that just curved foul – a reprieve that took a replay review to confirm.

Smith sliced Yates’ next pitch down the left-field line for a double, just the third hit given up by Yates in 15 at-bats by left-handed hitters.

Right-handed Garcia was next, and Yates left a 1-and-1 fastball over the heart of the plate. Garcia went deep in the heart of Texas, sending it 394 feet into the left-field seats and setting off the celebration among Yates’ former teammates. It was the first home run allowed by Yates since last Aug. 29.

“It happened pretty quick,” Yates said. “I was in a pretty good count with Smitty. Hung back-to-back splits. He put two good swings on it. Dolie, I had him 1-and-1 and threw him a pretty good split. I thought that would kind of get him off the fastball. To his credit, he stayed on it, got one to hit and put a good swing on it.”

The well-traveled Yates has played for seven teams in 11 big-league seasons, meaning he often faces former teammates all over the league. That doesn’t make it any easier.

“It’s always weird,” he said. “I’ve done this a few times now. I don’t really like facing your friends, know what I mean?”

His blown save didn’t make a friend out of Roki Sasaki, costing the young right-hander a win on a day when he completed six innings for the first time and held the Rangers to just two hits despite decreased velocity on his pitches.

“I felt like I was able to do the job that I was supposed to do as a starting pitcher,” Sasaki said through his interpreter. “My command of my fastball and my offspeed were pretty good, so I’m really happy with that. I was surprised with the fastball velo in the first inning myself. But I was able to really kind of dig in to what I needed to do and make some mechanical changes. I was able to increase the velo a little bit. So I was pretty pleased with that as well. Overall, I think I was pretty happy.”

Sasaki’s fastball registered just 92-93 mph even as he retired the first six batters he faced. He averaged 96.9 mph over his first four starts. Andy Pages saved him at one point, going to the wall and robbing Corey Seager of a home run in the first inning.

“It was down today. I don’t know the reason behind it,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Sasaki’s velocity – an issue even Sasaki raised during his recruiting visits last winter. “But I love the first-pitch strikes. I love the way he used his entire mix.”

A pitch-clock violation helped Sasaki walk Dustin Harris to start the third inning and he left a 94.5 mph fastball up in the zone to Kyle Higashioka, who lined it over the wall in left field for a two-run home run.

Sasaki walked Seager later in the inning but was never in danger again. He finished six innings on 78 pitches, allowing just two hits, walking three and striking out four. Higashioka was the last runner to reach second base against Sasaki.

After using his slider sparingly in his previous two starts, Sasaki threw it more often than his splitter (25-23) against the Rangers and almost as many as he had thrown in his previous starts combined (34). The velocity on that was down along with his fastball, which averaged 94.4 mph Saturday after Sasaki said he made some mechanical changes to boost it.

“My fastball was getting hit a little hard in the early part of the game, so I felt like I had to mix in all of my pitches,” Sasaki said. “I did feel pretty good with my command of fastball, split and slider as well. So I think it became something I was able to rely on mid-counts and something that I could get back into counts with as well.

“In an ideal world, I want my fastball and split to be good. Being able to use the slider today as another weapon in my arsenal was something I was really pleased to be able to do.”

The Dodgers erased Sasaki’s lone mistake in the fourth inning when Mookie Betts led off with a single and Freddie Freeman followed with a 404-foot drive into the right-field seats. The two-run home run tied the score, and Texas starter Nathan Eovaldi helped them take the lead.

After Michael Conforto singled with one out, Eovaldi tried to pick him off, but no one was covering first base. The wild throw moved Conforto to second base and allowed him to score when Max Muncy bounced a ground-rule double over the wall in center field.

Eovaldi allowed just one other hit in his six innings, striking out seven.

Jack Dreyer, Evan Phillips (in his season debut) and Alex Vesia carried the one-run lead safely into the ninth inning. But Yates couldn’t close it out.

“I’m not going to look at this and change anything I do,” Yates said. “I threw two bad ones, threw a couple good ones (splitters). But overall it’s been pretty good. I think overall the numbers reflect that. You just flush it and move on. Be better next time.”

Dodgers lose to Rangers as Kirby Yates gives up 2-run walk-off homer Orange County Register

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Dodgers lose to Rangers as Kirby Yates gives up 2-run walk-off homer

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