The pitcher who got the Los Angeles Dodgers to the finish line in the 2025 World Series is headed to the mound in a key regular-season, four-game series as Yoshinobu Yamamoto faces the visiting Milwaukee Brewers on Friday night.
The Dodgers will need Yamamoto at his best after they were two outs away from moving into a tie atop the National League with the Brewers before Milwaukee rallied for three runs in the ninth inning for a 5-4 victory.
The Dodgers fell to 4-9 since July 31.
Yamamoto (11-7, 2.65 ERA) knows all about delivering when the heat is on. He was the winning pitcher in Games 6 and 7 of last year’s World Series as the Dodgers won their second consecutive title. He also threw a complete-game two-hitter to earn a 5-1 win in Game 2.
In two career regular-season starts against Milwaukee, including one this season, the right-hander is 1-1 with a 4.70 ERA. He gave up one run to the Brewers over seven innings of 5-1 win on May 24.
He also was brilliant in his start in Game 2 of the NL Division Series against Milwaukee last season, allowing only a Jackson Chourio first-inning homer in a 5-1 complete-game victory.
When the Dodgers lost eight of nine games in recent series against the Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs and Arizona Diamondbacks, Yamamoto started the only game Los Angeles won. He gave up no runs and three hits in 5 2/3 innings of a 2-1, 10-inning victory against Arizona on Saturday, and the Dodgers will count on him for multiple innings against Milwaukee. Los Angeles used five relievers on Thursday.
The list includes right-handed closer Edwin Diaz, who struggled in the ninth inning. Brought in for the save opportunity, Diaz was charged with the loss when the Dodgers’ 4-2 lead turned into a 5-4 loss. He gave up three runs on four hits and got two outs by strikeout.
“It was about inconsistency,” Diaz said after the game Thursday. “I was throwing my fastball right down the middle, and when you miss right down the middle, you (pay for it). … Every big league hitter can hit fastballs right down the middle.”
After the Brewers were swept in a three-game series by the San Diego Padres before heading to Los Angeles, Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy implored his club to embrace the next opportunity. The Brewers did just that.
Milwaukee took a 2-1 lead into the sixth inning Thursday before the Dodgers’ Max Muncy hit a three-run home run to gain a 4-2 advantage in the bottom of the sixth.
The Brewers rallied for the winning runs on RBI singles from Jackson Chourio, Garrett Mitchell and Jake Bauers in the ninth, in which they had five of their 10 hits — all singles.
“Maybe we were a little dejected after the (Muncy) homer, but after that, it was, ‘All right, we just have to have good at-bats here. We might lose this game, but let’s go down our way,'” said Bauers, who is from nearby Huntington Beach, Calif.
Left-handed reliever DL Hall stepped up with two scoreless innings of relief, and Trevor Megill pitched a perfect ninth inning for his 22nd save.
“Hopefully, it gets us going,” Bauers said. “I wouldn’t say we needed it. It’s a long season and … all you can do is be in the moment as much as possible.”
While the Dodgers had first baseman Freddie Freeman in the lineup one day after he tumbled onto the concrete of the visitors dugout, it was the Brewers who were down a starter.
Milwaukee second baseman Brice Turang, another Los Angeles-area native, did not play due to knee discomfort. An initial MRI did not reveal anything of concern.
The Brewers will send send left-hander Robert Gasser (3-4, 4.57 ERA) to the mound on Friday. The rookie started on May 23 in his only appearance vs. the Dodgers and gave up four runs over 4 1/3 innings while taking an 11-3 loss.
–Field Level Media
