With Yamamoto back in form, Dodgers answer serious pitching questions with big weekend

From a plastic bag on the chair in front of his locker, Yoshinobu Yamamoto removed the jersey he wore Sunday on Uniqlo Field.Carefully spreading the uniform on the backrest of a nearby sofa, Yamamoto used a silver marker to inscribe on the article of clothing his signature, as well as the date.This was a gift for his longtime trainer Osamu Yada and his wife.“Their 40th anniversary,” said Yamamoto, who also presented Yada with a game ball and lineup card.Yamamoto failed to deliver a signature performance in the Dodgers’ 9-1 win over the Phillies, but he didn’t look or sound as if he was bothered.His season was unfolding as his mentor said it would, and the team was starting to play the way it was built to.With their victory in the rubber match of the three-game series, the Dodgers won their fifth consecutive series.Their lead in the National League West, which was at 1 ½ games just a week ago, was now at 5 ½ games.Their advantage figures to increase in the coming weeks, as the Dodgers spent the weekend addressing the one potential shortcoming that could have threatened their continued dominance.Regardless of how much longer Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow remain sidelined, their starting pitching won’t implode.Justin Wrobleski and Roki Sasaki answered important questions that were being asked about them — Wrobleski about whether his All-Star-caliber form was sustainable and Sasaki about whether he even belonged in the major leagues.As for Yamamoto, he demonstrated that his early-season, early-inning problems are behind him, the World Series hero striking out 10 batters over 5 ⅓ scoreless innings.Yamamoto described himself as “close” after being tagged for five runs by the Giants a couple of weeks ago, and he was right, posting a 0.93 ERA in his three starts since then.“It’s getting better and better,” Yamamoto said in Japanese.Command problems resulted in him running up his pitch count, but he was encouraged by the increased velocity of his ...