Pitchers will tell you: As soon as they release the ball, they become an infielder. Los Angeles Dodgers hurler Yoshinobu Yamamoto knows that and he flashed some serious leather on Monday against the Cleveland Guardians.

The play came in the third inning when the Guardians' Will Wilson attempted a bunt to move runners on first and second over with nobody out and the Dodgers up 2-0. Wilson placed the bunt perfectly, landing it past first baseman Freddie Freeman, who was playing all the way in. Yamamoto chased the ball down as second baseman Hyeseong Kim hustled over the cover first.

Without Kim in position to field the throw, Yamamoto took it himself and lunged at Wilson to apply the tag before the Guardians' 9 hitter reached first.

It was more of an athletic feat for Yamamoto than it even looked. The pitcher had the presence of mind to immediately come off the mound and spot the ball. He was then able to reach it quickly, make the snap decision that he needed to take the play himself, and catch Wilson, who was diving away from the tag.

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To Wilson's credit, the bunt ended up being successful. He moved the runners over and the next batter, Steven Kwan, got the runner in from third on a fielder's choice.

Unfortunately for Cleveland, Yamamoto has been on his game, and the Guardians managed only three hits through the first six innings.

On the other side, the Dodgers went to work on Gavin Williams, with Shohei Ohtani hitting his MLB-leading 19th home run of the season to lead off the game. Los Angeles tacked on another in the second and chased Williams with two more in the fifth.

This is the first of three between the Dodgers and Guardians as Los Angeles looks to put some distance between themselves and the second-place San Francisco Giants in the NL West.