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GLENDALE, Ariz. — More than the fastball that sat at 98 mph or the three shutout innings, the story of Roki Sasaki‘s debut as a Los Angeles Dodger on Tuesday night was best told through the words of the hitters facing him.

“Nasty,” Austin Hays said.

“Heavy,” TJ Friedl said.

“Electric,” Austin Wynns said.

Sasaki more than earned the praise from the three Cincinnati Reds veterans with 17 combined major league seasons and their future Hall of Fame manager, Terry Francona, who called the 23-year-old’s first spring training outing in a Dodgers uniform “impressive.”

Sasaki, who signed with the Dodgers in January after a lengthy recruiting process in which he chose them over the San Diego Padres and Toronto Blue Jays, struck out five in the team’s 4-2 win at Camelback Ranch. Two weeks before the Dodgers kick off the 2025 MLB season in Japan, where he starred for the past four years with the Chiba Lotte Mariners, Sasaki reinforced why Los Angeles is comfortable starting him in the second game of such a high-profile series.

Beyond his high-octane fastball, which peaked at 99.3 mph, Sasaki unleashed a split-fingered fastball evaluators believe is among the best in the world — and generated seven misses on eight swings.

“Some break straight down, some go to the left, some go to the right,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “So it is tough to square it up. You just don’t know what it’s going to do.”

Sasaki, who entered the game after a four-inning start from countryman Yoshinobu Yamamoto, shook off a shaky start in which he allowed a hard-hit single to Wynns and followed with a 97 mph fastball to the gut of Stuart Fairchild, who was squaring to bunt. Sasaki then struck out two Reds regulars, Friedl and Matt McLain, staring at splitters.

“The splitter was like two different splitters from what I saw,” Friedl said.

Sasaki signed with the Dodgers for a $6.5 million bonus in January — a fraction of what he would have earned had he waited two more years and come to Major League Baseball as an international free agent — and has spent spring training trying to fine-tune his stuff, particularly the fastball that has peaked at 102.5 mph but lost oomph last year. Time spent in the Dodgers’ pitching lab helped Sasaki with his mechanics. While he said he felt a combination of excitement and nervousness before entering the game Tuesday, he focused once he reached the mound.

“Today’s the fruit of all the hard work that I put in during the offseason and the first part of spring training,” Sasaki said.

A leadoff double from All-Star shortstop Elly De La Cruz, a walk to Christian Encarnacion-Strand and a wild pitch left Sasaki facing trouble in the sixth, but he induced a popout from Noelvi Marte to conclude the inning. Two more strikeouts in a hitless seventh ended his night on 46 pitches, 26 of which were strikes.

“We’re going to continue to learn more from Roki,” Roberts said. “And obviously he’s pitched in a lot of big games in his career, but you’re also in an environment where he’s comfortable. This is something that’s all new to him. And so he’s learning on the fly and we’re asking a lot of him, but there’s a lot of confidence supporting him.”

Roberts called it a “good night for the Dodgers,” who added Cy Young winner Blake Snell to a rotation that already included All-Star Tyler Glasnow and will later add future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw and Shohei Ohtani, who is returning from his second Tommy John surgery. Surrounded by stars, Sasaki still will get the ball March 19 against the Chicago Cubs, one day after Yamamoto opens the season.

Sasaki will start in his final outing of the spring on March 11, Roberts said, before the highly anticipated series in the Tokyo Dome. He’ll do so having found success in his first taste of major league hitters outside of the World Baseball Classic.

“A couple things I noticed with big league hitters: They do hit mistakes, and they do take some splits that I threw,” Sasaki said. “But I did feel really good about being able to jam some hitters. As long as I throw quality pitches, I should be able to get these guys out.”

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U.S. shut out by Switzerland at hockey worlds

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U.S. shut out by Switzerland at hockey worlds

HERNING, Denmark — Switzerland, last year’s runner-up, shut out the United States 3-0 and handed the Americans their first loss at the ice hockey world championship Monday.

Damien Riat, Jonas Siegenthaler and Dean Kukan scored in the Group B game in Herning. Netminder Leonardo Genoni stopped 23 shots for the shutout.

“Give credit to Switzerland,” U.S. coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “But I know our group has a lot more in them. We’ll regroup and get ready to play Norway.”

Riat put Switzerland ahead with 7:14 remaining in the first period, redirecting the puck into the goal from the air. It was the first goal the U.S. conceded at the tournament.

The second followed 3:13 later by Siegenthaler from the blue line. Kukan’s came halfway through the final period from the top of the left circle.

“After the first goal we did a better job,” Swiss forward Kevin Fiala said. “We got into it more and more, and shut them out.”

Fiala recorded an assist in his first game at the worlds. He joined the Swiss late after his Los Angeles Kings were eliminated from the NHL playoffs in the first round.

U.S. goalie Joey Daccord made 24 saves.

The U.S., which beat Denmark 5-0 and Hungary 6-0 in its first two games, will next face Norway on Wednesday.

In other games, Martin Necas had two goals and David Pastrnak had a goal and two assists as the defending champion Czech Republic used a four-goal middle period to ease past Denmark 7-2.

Nick Olesen also had a goal and an assist for Denmark.

In Stockholm, Sweden topped archrival Finland 2-1 on goals from Leo Carlsson and Jonas Brodin for a third victory in regulation from three games.

Austria defeated Slovakia 3-2 in a penalty shootout.

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Leafs’ Domi fined $5K for hit to Panthers’ Barkov

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Leafs' Domi fined K for hit to Panthers' Barkov

Toronto Maple Leafs forward Max Domi was fined $5,000 — the maximum amount allowed by the league’s collective bargaining agreement — for boarding Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov as time expired in Game 4 of their second-round Eastern Conference playoff series Sunday.

Toronto was trailing 2-0 when the final buzzer sounded, and Domi hit Barkov from behind, sending him headfirst into the boards. Domi was given a minor penalty for boarding at the time while several other scrums broke out before officials moved players off the ice.

Florida’s victory evened the best-of-seven series at 2-all. Game 5 is set for Wednesday in Toronto.

Toronto coach Craig Berube didn’t comment on the Domi hit directly Monday, but he did say he thought Dmitry Kulikov‘s hit on Mitch Marner “was way worse”

On that play, the Panthers defenseman caught Marner up high with an elbow, leaving the Leafs forward momentarily dazed. No penalty was called on Kulikov.

It wasn’t the first elbowing incident to draw attention in the series.

In Game 1, Panthers forward Sam Bennett sent an elbow to the head of Leafs netminder Anthony Stolarz shortly before Stolarz left the game. He was later hospitalized for further evaluation and hasn’t been able to resume skating since. There is currently no timeline for his return.

The physical intensity of the series might continue to rise now that it’s down to being a best-of-three. Based on how Game 4 played out, the Leafs are prepared to push back when they host Florida on Wednesday.

“We expected [the physicality], and I think we’re fine with it,” Berube said. “We’re handling it. We’re physical. I thought we were the more physical team [in Game 4].”

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Stars’ Heiskanen still on pace to return vs. Jets

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Stars' Heiskanen still on pace to return vs. Jets

DALLAS — Stars coach Pete DeBoer expects injured star defenseman Miro Heiskanen to play in their series against the Winnipeg Jets.

“I’m still sticking by what I projected: that we would see him in the second round,” DeBoer said Monday during an optional Dallas practice.

The Stars lead their series with the Jets 2-1, with Game 4 scheduled for Tuesday night.

Heiskanen remains day-to-day, with him not having played since Jan. 28, when his left knee was injured in a collision with Vegas Golden Knights forward Mark Stone. Heiskanen had knee surgery and has been working his way back to the lineup since Winnipeg’s opening-round series against the Colorado Avalanche. Heiskanen had 25 points (5 goals, 20 assists) in 50 games this season, averaging 25:10 in ice time.

Monday was a scheduled off day for Heiskanen. DeBoer said he’ll be “back at it tomorrow.” The coach said that any decision on Heiskanen’s status will be made together by the coach, the player and the team’s medical staff.

Last round, DeBoer said everything was “on the table” to ease Heiskanen back into the lineup, including playing seven defensemen. The coach said he’s not looking for the 25-year-old defenseman to log his usual minutes right away, having ranked fifth in the NHL in average ice time during the regular season.

“I don’t think there are specific restrictions, but we’re not going to put ‘im out on the ice for 30 minutes in his first game back in three months,” DeBoer said. “We’ll have to be smart about that.”

Dallas forward Jason Robertson has seen firsthand what it’s like to go from watching the playoffs to competing in them. He returned to the Stars’ lineup after being injured in an April 16 game, making his postseason debut in Game 1 at Winnipeg.

“You’re coming back from injury, so whatever you had is obviously going to bother you. So that’s the No. 1 thing. And then getting up to game speed in the playoffs is a different animal,” he said. “There’s no hiding out there. Every moment’s heightened, every missed assignment, any forecheck. Anytime you get beat up the ice, everything just gets heightened. So you just try to be super simple out there until you get your legs back and get in game shape. That could take a little bit.”

The Stars have weathered the loss of Heiskanen thanks to the depth of their defense corps. Thomas Harley has filled in on the power play, collecting four points in the postseason. Veteran Cody Ceci has handled an increase of over two minutes per game in ice time. Players such as Lian Bichsel and Alexander Petrovic have played effectively, DeBoer said.

“I think it’s been exceptional what our group’s done,” the coach said.

Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel acknowledged that Dallas, already leading in the series, will get an instant emotional boost when Heiskanen returns.

“An elite, elite player obviously,” he said. “We can’t worry about somebody that’s not here. If all of a sudden we show up and he’s out there in warmups, then yeah, we certainly have to recognize it.”

With the possibility there that Heiskanen could return as early as Game 4, Arniel would be fine if the Stars continued to take a cautious approach with their star defenseman.

“Hopefully, he takes a little bit more time to make sure he’s getting back on it,” the Jets coach said with a grin.

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