After going up 2-0 against the Philadelphia Phillies to start off the NLDS, the Los Angeles Dodgers turned to Yoshinobu Yamamoto to close things out in Chavez Ravine and lock in a spot in the NLCS.
The Dodgers' most consistent starter all season, a $300 million arm who should finish top-3 in Cy Young voting in the National League, Yamamoto looked lights out early on, but when it came to the fourth inning, the wheels started to fall off in a major way, with Kyle Schwarber hitting a moon shot into the parking lot before Rob Thomson's club manufactured two more runs. With no outs on the board, Dave Roberts took the ball out of Yamamoto's hands, turning to Anthony Banda to finish out the inning and mitigate the damage.
A disappointing outcome for the Japanese-born ace? Most certainly, especially considering it was the shortest outing he's had since June, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today.
“This was Yamamoto's shortest outing since June 1,” Nightengale wrote.
Pitching his second playoff game of the 2025 MLB Postseason, Yamamoto ended up surrendering six hits, three runs, and a home run versus just two strikeouts. While Andy Pages didn't exactly help him out, earning an error while attempting to throw out Bryce Harper as he charged third base, in the end, Roberts didn't feel confident enough in Yamamoto to close out the inning, making way for Banda.
With the next two games of the NLDS – if necessary – coming on Thursday and Saturday, Yamamoto almost certainly won't see the mound again until the NLCS, unless LA really needs him to throw an inning in relief over the weekend in a dire situation. That extra time off should help him move on from this down game and return to his usual form against either the Chicago Cubs or the Milwaukee Brewers.
