After watching Blake Snell turn in one of the greatest individual pitching efforts in MLB history, facing the minimum through eight innings to keep the Milwaukee Brewers scoreless through eight dominant innings, Yoshinobu Yamamoto immediately broke his no-hitter on the very first play of Game 2, allowing postseason star Jackson Chourio to go yards on pitch No. 1.
On paper, not the best way to start a game, but baseball is played on the field, not on paper, and after taking a second to compose himself, Yamamoto never looked back, completing eight innings with relative ease while only allowing two more hits and a walk for his troubles.
With all eyes on Dave Roberts, the skipper allowed Yamamoto to get back into the game for the ninth inning, likely after watching things get tense when he pulled Snell before the ninth and was immediately vindicated for his efforts, with the pride of Bizen, Okayama, Japan, taking down the Brewers in order on the way to a complete game win.
When was the last time that happened, a Dodgers pitcher throwing a complete game in the playoffs? Well, one has to look all the way back to 2004, when Jose Lima accomplished the feat for LA against the St. Louis Cardinals, as reported by Dodgers Nation's Doug McKain.
Coming into Milwaukee as the underdogs, having to win their way into the playoffs with a Wildcard Round showdown against the Cincinnati Reds, the Dodgers looked like the team fans expected to easily walk into the World Series for the second-straight year heading into the season. With a 2-0 record going back to Los Angeles, it will be interesting to see if the Dodgers even have to return to Milwaukee for Game 7, or if Yamamoto's next start will come in the World Series.
