Yoshinobu Yamamoto threw seven innings of one-run ball and struck out 10 as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 3-1 on Tuesday night to take a 2-1 lead in their National League Division Series.
Yamamoto, the reigning World Series MVP, allowed four hits and one walk. He needed 98 pitches, 62 of them strikes, and retired the final eight batters he faced. The 10 strikeouts were a postseason career high.
The right-hander entered the night with a 7-1 record and 2.25 ERA across 56 postseason innings. The outing improved him to 8-1 with a 2.14 ERA in his postseason career. He has never lost a postseason start in which the Dodgers scored at least three runs.
Kiké Hernández and Freddie Freeman supplied the offense with home runs in the fourth inning against Chris Sale. Hernández’s two-run shot gave Los Angeles a 2-0 lead. Freeman followed with a solo homer, his 18th in the postseason, to make it 3-0.
Sale lasted five innings and allowed seven hits and three runs. Atlanta’s only run came in the fifth on a bases-loaded groundout by Drake Baldwin. Yamamoto limited the damage and worked two more innings.
Tanner Scott pitched a scoreless eighth. Edwin Díaz worked the ninth, striking out two and stranding a runner at third to close it out.
The Dodgers played the game after dropping Game 2 and trailing 1-1 in the best-of-five series. A win in Game 4 on Wednesday would send them to the NLCS. Tyler Glasnow is scheduled to start for Los Angeles against Tyler Mahle.
Yamamoto kept the Braves off balance with a mix that produced 17 swings and misses. He carried a shutout into the fifth before the bases-loaded jam.
“All of my pitches were really good,” Yamamoto said.
He added that he approached the outing differently from the regular season.
“I usually care about the pitch count during the regular season,” Yamamoto said. “But it’s the postseason, and one thing I was trying to do was one inning at a time. And then the worst scenario, I can give up a few runs. But just one inning at a time, and that should lead me deeper into the game.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts praised the performance.
“What a performance. I think it was that fifth inning where there started to be a little bit of stress, but managed the situation, limited damage, and to go out there and give us two more, pretty impressive,” Roberts said.
“He just has a way of making pitches, calm as can be, and I think he made two mistakes all night. The first pitch to Matt Olson, Lane Thomas, that cutter that just didn’t get there. But outside of that, he was awesome. And, excuse me, to get through seven innings, our bullpen’s in a good spot as far as Game 4. Can’t say enough about Yoshinobu.”
Roberts also noted the team’s approach at the plate.
“The thing I was most proud of is we played tonight like an elimination game. You can see from the outset, Mookie Betts’ at-bats, even just pushing a ball in his first at-bat, kind of set the tone as far as just the fight. We spoiled a lot of pitches, took a lot of really good pitches that we normally don’t do. Anytime you can get Chris Sale out of a game after five innings, you’re doing something. I think collectively it was probably one of our better performances, certainly with the starter, as far as 1 through 9.”
Analyst Alanna Rizzo highlighted Yamamoto’s consistency.
“The thing about Yoshinobu Yamamoto that’s so unbelievable is probably we don’t talk about him enough because he’s so steady. He doesn’t have ridiculous highs; he doesn’t have clunkers. He doesn’t have any outings that you’re like, ‘What the f–k?’ And that’s exactly what you need in an ace. And again, to your point, the Dodgers beat the Braves’ ace on Oct. 6. The Dodgers have an ace going every single day.”
Yamamoto went 14-9 with a 2.53 ERA and 182 strikeouts in the regular season. Over the past three postseasons he has thrown more innings than any other pitcher.
The Braves stranded six runners in the first three innings. Yamamoto allowed only two singles through four frames before the fifth-inning trouble.
Game 4 is set for Wednesday afternoon at Truist Park. Los Angeles can close out the series with one more win.
