The Dodgers' magic number goes down to 1 thanks to relievers Roki Sasaki and Clayton Kershaw

Simply use some starters.

The Dodgers lost a late-game lead again when their usual relievers failed them. They won 5-4 in extra innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks, which brought their magic number to one to win the National League West. They still didn't make it look as easy to win as it should have.

But they did win that night, mostly because Roki Sasaki and Clayton Kershaw pitched two scoreless innings of relief.

The game wasn't over until the 11th inning, when Tommy Edman handed the Dodgers a lead they would keep.

But it never would have gotten there without Sasaki and Kershaw coming in from the bullpen.

Sasaki was activated from the injured list just before the game and made his first appearance in the majors since hurting his shoulder in early May. He pitched a scoreless frame in the bottom of the seventh, protecting a 3-1 lead that Blake Snell had given the team with his six-inning, one-run start and an early offensive outburst that included a two-run homer from Andy Pages.

Sasaki's fastball averaged 98–99 mph and was perfectly placed on the edges of the strike zone. It even made a handful of swings and misses, which he never did consistently when having a 4.72 ERA in eight starts at the start of the season.

He matched it with a characteristic splitter that he could control better than he ever could during his first time in the MLB.

Sasaki just needed 13 pitches to get the side out, and he ended his performance with two strikeouts on 99-mph four-seamers. He looked at his teammates with a grim glare as he headed back to the bench. Almost everyone, including Shohei Ohtani, clapped in agreement.

Disaster struck in the eighth, when Teoscar Hernández hit a double that brought in a run and gave the Dodgers a 4-1 lead.

Alex Vesia, the bullpen's one reliable pitcher all season, gave up a single to Ketel Marte, a walk to Geraldo Perdomo, and an RBI double to Corbin Carroll, all with one out.

Rookie right-hander Edgardo Henriquez, who throws hard, couldn't put out the fire from there. He gave up one run on a swinging bunt from Gabriel Moreno in front of the plate that spun away from catcher Ben Rortvedt. Then he gave up another run when pinch-hitter Adrian Del Castillo stayed alive on a generous two-strike call (which was probably because Rortvedt dropped the pitch behind the plate) before hitting a sacrifice fly to center.

For the second night in a row, a three-run advantage in the last few minutes of the game had disappeared.

But this time, manager Dave Roberts had a new card to play. The future Hall of Fame left-handed pitcher was called up for the ninth inning the night after Kershaw offered to pitch in relief.

Kershaw did well in his first bullpen appearance since the legendary fifth game of the 2019 NL Division Series. With Tommy Edman's diving catch in center, he retired the side in sequence. He seemed at ease in the kind of high-pressure bullpen job that the Dodgers might need him to play in October.

The rest of the bullpen finally held up in the extras. In the 10th inning, Blake Treinen came in with the bases loaded and two outs, but he got James McCann to fly out to shallow right field. In the 11th inning, Justin Wrobleski (another pitcher who started the season as a starter) was given a save situation when Edman hit his third hit of the night and brought home a run. He retired all three batters he faced.

The Los Angeles Times first published this story.