Dodgers Yoshinobu Yamamoto cements status with another October gem
ATLANTA — Build him a statue.Retire his number.Let him press his golden right hand into wet cement on Hollywood Boulevard.Might as well.Yoshinobu Yamamoto is only in his third season with the Dodgers, and the 28-year-old Japanese right-hander is already one of the greatest postseason pitchers in franchise history.Tuesday night in Atlanta, Yamamoto scaled the mound at Truist Park for a start against the Braves in Game 3 of their National League Division Series.With the Dodgers’ season on the line, just pitching well wouldn’t suffice.His unspoken assignment was to outpitch Chris Sale, the former Cy Young Award winner who pitched a complete-game shutout against the Dodgers in late August.Yamamoto delivered another heroic October performance, limiting the Braves to one run over the first seven innings of the Dodgers’ 3-1 victory.The reigning World Series MVP did more than win a game.He wrestled back control of the best-of-five series for the Dodgers, who now have a two-games-to-one advantage.
The Dodgers can close out the series on Wednesday.By completing as many innings as he did, Yamamoto minimized the exposure of the Dodgers’ untrustworthy bullpen.By dominating the Braves the way he did, he made Shohei Ohtani’s diminished role on the team a nonfactor.Yamamoto allowed only one hit over the first three innings, and that came on a bunt by Michael Harris II. Sale broke before he did, the Dodgers taking a 3-0 lead on a two-run homer by Kiké Hernández and a solo shot by Freddie Freeman.Yamamoto’s first and only encounter with trouble came in the fifth inning.
Yamamoto started the inning by giving up back-to-back singles to Mauricio Dubón and Lane Thomas.Drake Baldwin grounded out to first base to push in a run, but Yamamoto ensured there would be no further damage by retiring Ronald Acuña.The Braves never threatened Yamamoto again, as he retired the side in both the sixth and seventh innings.
Yamamoto struck out the last two batters he faced, Thomas ...