As the LA Dodgers look to sweep the Phillies, manager Dave Roberts knew who to go to. On Wednesday, it will be up to Yoshinobu Yamamoto to give the green light to get the brooms out.
For Roberts, he has the utmost confidence in Yamamoto to get the job done, per Dodgers Nation.
“He is very confident, he has a pitch mix that can manage lefties, righties, enough velocity to handle this team,” Roberts said. “He does a great job of managing his emotions.”
During the regular season, Yamamoto went 12-8 with a 2.49 ERA and 201 strikeouts. In his last six starts, Yamamoto put out a stellar run with a 0.66 ERA and 53 strikeouts. That in and of itself should give Roberts and the Dodgers a sense of comfort.
In Game 1, it was fellow Japanese sensation Shohei Ohtani who helped secure the win with nine strikeouts in a 3-2 victory. During Game 2, the left-hander Blake Snell dominated with nine strikeouts in six scoreless innings.
The Dodgers went on to win 4-3.
As a result, the Dodgers are inching their way closer to potentially getting a chance at repeating as World Series champions.
Yoshinobou Yamamoto's postseason heroics with the Dodgers
Last season, Yamamoto got his first shot at playing in the postseason. Last October, he went onto have a record of 2-0 with an ERA of 3.86 with 15 strikeouts in four appearances.
In the process, he went onto win his first World Series when the Dodgers defeated the New York Yankees in five games.
Yamamoto pitched Game 2 and did so effectively. Altogether, he pitched 6 1/3 innings, finished with four strikeouts, and allowed just one run on one hit.
The Dodgers won the game 4-2 to take a 2-0 series lead. In the Wild Card series against the Reds, Yamamoto made MLB history when he alongside Snell achieved a few notable feats.
They secured nine strikeouts, 20+ outs, and allowed fewer than five runs in both starts to sweep the Reds in two games.
