In a matchup against the San Francisco Giants at Dodger Stadium on May 12 (May 13 Japan time), Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto took the mound for his seventh start of the season. He struggled through 6 1/3 innings, allowing a career-worst three home runs and a season-high five earned runs on six hits, falling to 3-3 with a 3.60 ERA. Despite matching his season high with eight strikeouts, the right-hander could not escape the damage inflicted by the bottom of the Giants’ order.
Yamamoto was particularly critical of the three solo homers he allowed to the 8th and 9th hitters. “I left pitches in spots where they could turn into extra-base hits, and they capitalized. If I had been a little more aware of the situation, the results might have been different. The stuff itself was very good; I felt confident throwing every pitch. But both home runs came from the 8th and 9th spots, so I need to approach those at-bats with more focus. I’ll go back to the basics of pitching and work harder,” Yamamoto reflected.
The Japanese ace started strong, retiring the first six batters in order. The Dodgers gave him an early lead in the first inning, sparking by Shohei Ohtani’s single to right field, followed by a sacrifice fly from Will Smith. Yamamoto cruised through the third, striking out two batters before yielding a game-tying solo homer to 9th hitter Brett Wisely with two outs.
The Dodgers reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the third when Ohtani crushed a solo home run to left field—his seventh of the season and first since early May, ending a 12-game, 53 at-bat drought. However, Yamamoto could not hold it. In the fifth, with two outs, 8th hitter Pat Valaika (Benedict?) sent a solo shot near the left-field foul pole to tie the game again. On the very next pitch, Wisely connected for his second homer of the night, putting the Giants ahead as Yamamoto surrendered back-to-back solo homers to the bottom two batters. It marked the first time he allowed three home runs in a single game in his MLB career.
Yamamoto worked a scoreless sixth inning, but in the seventh, trailing by one, he gave up back-to-back singles to the first two batters. After getting a flyout to second base, he was pulled with one out and runners on first and third. Reliever Alex Vesia (or another) allowed both inherited runners to score, inflating Yamamoto’s earned run total to a season-worst five.
