LOS ANGELES — Given the medical travails of the Dodgers’ pitching staff this season, it might have been tempting to view Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s return Tuesday night with eyes covered, peering out between your fingers.
But it could not have gone much better.
In his first game since leaving his June 15 start with a strained rotator cuff, Yamamoto struck out the side in the first inning and eight of the first 12 batters he faced. He allowed just one run on four hits while completing four strong innings.
The eighth inning was the time to look away. The Dodgers made three errors, fueling a five-run rally that doomed them to a 6-3 loss to the Chicago Cubs.
Yamamoto made just two starts on a minor-league injury rehabilitation assignment with Triple-A Oklahoma City and completed just two innings in his second start due to a high pitch count (53). But the Dodgers prioritized getting him four starts at the major-league level before the postseason over giving him more time to build back up with OKC.
Tuesday’s comeback start did wonders for their confidence in Yamamoto being able to assume a leading role in October.
He used 15 pitches to strike out the side in the first inning, touching 98 mph with his four-seam fastball. He struck out Cody Bellinger to start the second inning for four consecutive strikeouts then gave up a run on three singles. The third was a chopper by Pete Crow-Armstrong that jumped up and caromed off Freddie Freeman’s chest behind first base, allowing the run to score.
Yamamoto struck out the side again in the third inning, then worked through an eight-pitch fourth inning aided by a 3-6-3 double play.
He finished with 59 pitches, averaging 96.3 mph on his fastball (up from 95.5 mph before his trip to the injured list). Yamamoto’s splitter was particularly effective, inducing six of the 11 swings-and-misses he got.
The right-hander threw just one slider. Yamamoto had increased his usage of that pitch in the starts before his injury, though he dismissed it as a factor in the shoulder strain.
The Dodgers built a 3-1 lead on three solo home runs off Yamamoto’s Samurai Japan teammate from the 2023 World Baseball Classic, Cubs left-hander Shota Imanaga. Tommy Edman jumped first-pitch fastballs for his first two home runs of the season. Max Muncy waited until a 2-and-0 count to find a fastball to his liking in the fifth inning and lined it into the right field pavilion for a solo home run.
That 3-1 lead disappeared in the eighth inning thanks to poor defense by the Dodgers.
After Alex Vesia walked Ian Happ, Evan Phillips came in from the bullpen. Dansby Swanson chopped a ball in front of the plate that catcher Austin Barnes fielded. His throw pulled Freeman off the base at first, putting the tying runs on base. Both scored when Seiya Suzuki singled to center field and Edman’s throw to third base skipped through and into the photo well.
The Dodgers intentionally walked Bellinger to set up a double play and Phillips got a ground ball. But Kiké Hernandez flubbed it at second base, allowing the go-ahead run to score.
Two more runs scored on a Nico Hoerner double and a ground out.
The game ended with Crow-Armstrong robbing Muncy of a second home run on a drive to the center field wall.
More to come on this story.
