Yoshinobu Yamamoto continues to prove his worth in his first season with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Dodgers recruited a 26-year-old Japanese star pitcher to aid their return to the World Series. In his World Series debut on Saturday, he delivered a commanding performance, contributing to the Dodgers’ 4-2 win against the New York Yankees in Game 2. “
He was made for those moments,” Teoscar Hernandez said. “We trust in him. Earlier today, I told him it was going to be a good night for him, and he did. He gave us a chance to score some runs. He put some zeros on the board, and we won the game.”
Yamamoto yielded only one hit, struck out four, and issued two walks over 6⅓ innings pitched. Following a home run by Juan Soto in the top of the third, he set down 11 straight batters.
After facing Giancarlo Stanton, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts walked toward the mound to take the ball from Yamamoto, who received a standing ovation from most of the 52,725 fans in attendance. Yamamoto threw 54 strikes on 86 pitches.
“I was trying to focus on facing one hitter at a time,” Yamamoto said through an interpreter. “I was able to throw the strike when I wanted.”
Saturday marked one of Yamamoto’s lengthier MLB appearances. He hadn’t pitched into the seventh inning since a regular-season game on the road against the Yankees in June, during which he allowed only two hits.
“There wasn’t much stress in the game,” Roberts said of his mindset for Yamamoto’s usage on Saturday. “He hasn’t been in the seventh inning since that Yankee game. I think he’s thrown up to 76 pitches, so I felt we had a good building block foundation.”
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