CHICAGO (AP) — Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto lost a bid for a no-hitter when Tristan Peters hit a leadoff homer for the Chicago White Sox in the ninth inning on Saturday.
Yamamoto retired his first 23 batters before Chase Meidroth reached on a two-out error on shortstop Mookie Betts in the eighth. Jacob Gonzalez then bounced to second, ending the inning.
But Peters connected for his third homer on a 96.6 mph fastball, sending a drive deep to right.
After Edgar Quero flied out to center, Yamamoto was replaced by Alex Vesia. The Japanese right-hander received a standing ovation from the sellout crowd of 37,832 as he departed the mound.
Yamamoto struck out seven. He threw a season-high 109 pitches, 74 for strikes.
The Dodgers had a 7-0 lead going into the ninth.
There was a short delay before the bottom of the sixth while the grounds crew worked on the area around the pitching rubber on the mound. But Yamamoto had no issues when the game resumed, striking out Gonzalez on a full-count cutter before Peters bounced to first and Quero fouled out to left.
Miguel Vargas used the ABS challenge system to overturn a called strike three before lining to left for the second out of the seventh. Colson Montgomery lined to first baseman Freddie Freeman on a 3-2 pitch in the eighth.
The 27-year-old Yamamoto threw a career-high 113 pitches against Cincinnati during last year’s playoffs.
Yamamoto is in his third season with Los Angeles. He was the last year, helping the Dodgers win their second consecutive championship.
He is in the middle of a sharp stretch for the NL West leaders. He was 3-1 with a sparking 0.99 ERA in his last four starts coming into the day.
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