Blake Snell pitched eight innings of no-run ball yesterday? No problem, said Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who went the complete game, giving up only one run (off his first pitch, a leadoff HR from Jackson Chourio), with an impressive line of his own: 9.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB and 7 Ks.
That was Yamamoto's first career MLB CG. And a fine time to break out that performance. It was the first Dodgers postseason complete game since Jose Lima in 2004 (NLDS G3 vs. St. Louis), which was so long ago, this blog wasn't even around then!
The Dodgers have solved their bullpen woes by simply not ever going to the bullpen. Amazing.
Teoscar Hernandez had a key home run to strike back after Chourio's blast, and then Andy Pages knocked in Kiké Hernandez (who doubled) to give the Dodgers a quick 2-1 lead.
And though the Dodgers had many other chances in this game, we simply weren't great--2-for-11 with RISP, and 10 LOB--but we continued to just chip away and extend the lead with a trio of fenceposts in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings. A 2-1 lead stretched to 5-1; the Brewers had to use five pitches after Freddy Peralta, two of them picking up ER on their own pitching lines, and the Dodgers got another win on the road.
Sloppiness still abounds for the Dodgers. Max Muncy (who also homered in the game--making him the Dodger with the most postseason homeruns, all-time) had his second error of the postseason. And Teoscar Hernandez and Mookie Betts both GIDPd, the latter for the second time this series.
We still aren't firing on all cylinders offensively. But luckily, our starting rotation certainly is.
For a team that couldn't win one game against Milwaukee all regular season, it's remarkable for the Dodgers to get two wins on the road to start out this series.
Credit our starting pitchers, Blake Snell and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. If we never have to go to the bullpen, we might actually stand a chance this postseason.
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