Yoshinobu Yamamoto took the ball in Game 2 for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who lost Game 1 of the World Series to the Toronto Blue Jays 11-4, and delivered a gem to help tie up the series, throwing his second consecutive complete game of the postseason.
Yamamoto threw a 111-pitch three-hitter in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series. On 10 days of rest, he delivered a 105-pitch complete game on the biggest stage in baseball, allowing just four hits, one run and retiring the last 20 batters he faced. Trailing 1-0 in the series, Yamamoto knew what he needed to do going into the game.
“Today’s game, we had to win,” Yamamoto said through interpreter Yoshihiro Sonoda, according to MLB.com. “So that’s just how I treated this game.”
Yamamoto became the first pitcher since Curt Schilling in 2001 to throw consecutive complete games in the postseason. He became the first Dodger to throw a complete game in the fall classic since Orel Hershiser did so in 1988.
Perhaps forgotten in Yamamoto’s two dominant outings is the trust manager Dave Roberts had in him. It is becoming rare to see a pitcher go the distance in the modern game, but Yamamoto has done so twice in two of the biggest games of his MLB career. However, Roberts credits his experience before joining the Dodgers as a reason why he can perform in the biggest moments.
“Players that have the weight of a country on their shoulders, that’s pressure,” Roberts said after the game, according to MLB.com’s Sonja Chen. “So I just feel that part of his DNA is to just perform at a high level in big spots and control his heartbeat and just continue to make pitches.”
Yamamoto pitched in the World Series last year, and has also pitched in the Japan Series, Olympics and World Baseball Classic. However, he had never thrown a complete game in the big leagues until this postseason. Now, he has thrown two on the road this postseason.
Just as he did in Milwaukee, he relied heavily on his splitter. He threw the pitch 34 times and generated six whiffs. He got a total of 17 swings and misses. The Dodgers will head home with the series tied, looking to win back-to-back World Series.
