LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers are going to ride their starting pitchers and offense as far as they can take them this postseason. So far, so good, as Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Mookie Betts beat the Reds 8-4 on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium to sweep the wild card series in two games.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto struck out nine and allowed only two unearned runs in 6 2/3 innings in Game 2, which is right in line with his recent performance that earned him National League player of the month in September.
It’s very
difficult to score on Yamamoto lately, not without some help at least. That help came in the form of a two-out fly ball down the right field line that clanked off Teoscar Hernández’s glove. Instead of the inning being over, Sal Stewart singled home a pair of runs which was all the Reds would score off the Dodgers ace.
Yamamoto didn’t even allow another hit until the sixth inning, when three singles loaded the bases with nobody out. He induced a groundout and struck out a pair to escape the inning with no damage to preserve what at the time was a one-run lead.
After the Dodgers provided plenty of breathing room with four runs in the bottom of the sixth, Yamamoto remained in the game to open the seventh, too. Starting pitching is the Dodgers’ strength, and they’re going to use it.
“The moment isn’t too big for him, any moment,” manager Dave Roberts said of Yamamoto earlier on Wednesday. “He has the ability to make pitches when he needs to. He always seems like the best option.”
Yamamoto got two more outs but was pulled after walking a pair duriing the frame, his only walks in the game. Both runners were stranded, giving Yamamoto 24 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run. Yamamoto threw a major-league career-high 113 pitches in Game 2, but he’s been in that neighborhood in the last four weeks with starts of 112 and 108 pitches as well.
“He just seems like the guy that knows what he’s doing on the mound,” said Kiké Hernández, who had two hits, including an RBI double, and scored twice. “He’s not trying to figure out who he is. He knows who he is. He’s attacking. He has a game plan and he’s executing. And his command is impeccable.”
Blake Snell logging seven innings in Game 1 and Yamamoto 6 2/3 innings in Game 2 give their Dodgers their first consecutive games with starts into the seventh inning since Walker Buehler and Rich Hill in Games 3-4 of the 2018 World Series.
Mookie Betts won that World Series while with Boston and has since won two more with the Dodgers. He helped get them a step closer to another championship this year with four hits in Game 3, including three doubles and three runs batted in.
Three doubles for Betts tied a Dodgers postseason record, matching Jim Gilliam in Game 4 of the 1953 World Series.
The bottom of the lineup helped the Dodgers claw back in the game after the early deficit. Kiké Hernández, Miguel Rojas, and Ben Rortvedt each had two hits out of the final three spots in the batting order, and scored five runs.
That extra offense helped the Dodgers build a five-run lead by the time Yamamoto exited, and swelled to six runs in the bottom of the seventh. The bullpen angst in this one came in the top of the eighth inning, when Emmet Sheehan retired only one of his five batters faced, allowing two hits and two walks. Things were going to poorly for Sheehan that he was pulled in the middle of a plate appearance, ahead 1-2 on a count to Will Benson.
In came Alex Vesia in relief, and he notched a strikeout by throwing one pitch past pinch-hitter Miguel Andujar, a strikeout on the batting side which was credited to Benson. Baseball is an incredible sport.
Vesia walked a batter himself but then escaped a bases-loaded jam with a strikeout, preserving a four-run lead through eight innings.
Roki Sasaki shone in his MLB postseason debut, striking out two in a perfect ninth.
The bigger the cushion, the bigger the margin for error. The Dodgers gave themselves enough breathing room to exhale all the way to the NLDS.
Game 2 particulars
Home runs: none
WP — Yoshinobu Yamamoto (1-0): 6 2/3 IP, 4 hits, 2 unearned runs, 2 walks, 9 strikeouts
LP — Zack Littell (0-1): 3 1/3 IP, 6 hits, 3 runs, 2 strikeouts
Up next
The Dodgers are back in the National League Division Series for the 13th straight season, and will head to Philadelphia to play the Phillies with Game 1 on Saturday night (either 3:08 p.m. or 3:38 p.m. PT, TBS). Cristopher Sánchez will start for the home team, per Matt Gelb at The Athletic.
