MLB Playoffs: Yoshinobu Yamamoto delivers biggest start of his career as Dodgers advance to NLCS

LOS ANGELES – When the Dodgers scouted Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Japan, they envisioned him starting for the team in the team’s must-win postseason games. And after Los Angeles acquired him last offseason, Yamamoto was always going to be a huge part of LA’s success.

And he was early this season, showing the arsenal that made him one of the most coveted free agents of the winter, looking like one of baseball’s best pitchers through the first two months, posting a 2.92 ERA on June 15. The rotator cuff strain in June seemed to put an end to that early success and possibly end his rookie MLB season.

Three months later – with plenty of MRIs, rehab and waiting in between – Yamamoto returned to the Dodgers’ rotation on September 10, but after a long layoff, he wasn’t quite himself. He got through five innings just once in his last four starts of the regular season, and he even had some issues with tilting pitches.

But on Friday, with LA’s season on the line, the team needed Yamamoto’s best. All the chips were in the middle of the table, and with a trip to the NLCS on the line in Game 5 of the NLDS, the Dodgers needed their $325 million man to step up.

And he did.

Yamamoto sparked his young career in the Dodgers’ 2-0 win over the San Diego Padres, pitching five innings with just two hits, one walk and zero earned runs to send LA to the NLCS for the first time since 2021 .

“I didn’t do a good job last outing,” Yamamoto said afterward, referring to his three innings of five-run surrender in Game 1. “I was trying to get myself ready for today’s game.”

The Dodgers’ rookie right-hander had to be great in the series finale. Not only was the pressure at its maximum in a must-win game, but with Jack Flaherty struggling and the team having used the bullpen extensively in Game 4, Yamamoto was their best – and perhaps only – option.

From the first batter of the game it was clear he was ready to give his team a chance, hitting 93mph on his very first delivery.

“He was outstanding tonight,” Dodgers manager Dave Robert said after the game. “And I knew he wouldn’t run from this place. I’m looking forward to driving him through the World Series.”

The biggest test of the match for Yamamoto would be the Dodger killer, Fernando Tatis Jr. Tatis was a thorn in the Dodgers’ side throughout the series, with three home runs off LA pitchers and a postseason OPS of 1.759 in Game 5. Dodgers would advance to the next round, Yamamoto had to find a way to keep the Padres’ superstar to take out.

Yamamoto started Tatis’ at bat in the first inning with a ball. Then Tatis fouled two pitches in a row before Yamamoto swung him through a slider, showing the 26-year-old right-hander was locked up and sending Dodger Stadium into a frenzy.

“It’s the best we’ve ever seen him,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said later. “I give him a lot of credit. Fastball looked like it had a lot of life. … Threw the secondary when we needed to, and we just couldn’t string anything together. I thought he rose to the occasion.”

Perhaps the biggest moment of the game for Yamamoto and the Dodgers came in the third inning. The Japanese star cruised through the first eight batters he faced with just one walk allowed, but suffered some setbacks in the third. After back-to-back one-out singles from Kyle Higashioka and Luis Arraez, who was ready to do damage? Tatis of course.

And after Yamamoto fell behind 3-1 in the count, the game could have changed with one swipe. Instead, Yamamoto made the best throw of the night, causing Tatis to roll over on a slider and ground into a 5-4-3 double play. Inning over.

“I just tried to be aggressive,” Yamamoto said.

From there, Yamamoto set up the Padres’ hitters in a sharp fourth and fifth, matching his longest start since coming off the IL on September 10. In doing so, he gave the Dodgers exactly what they needed to beat a Padres team. that seemed like they had an advantage throughout the series.

“The team gave this kid so much money not because … this isn’t the design. It’s not like he expects to be great – he is great,” said Kiké Hernández, who hit the game-winning home run in the second inning. “And what he did tonight, that’s who he is. And we are not surprised at all.”

The Dodgers are considered baseball’s elite, with their high payroll and superstar talent. But make no mistake: what they accomplished in this NLDS was no small feat. San Diego seemed to have all the advantages after Game 3, both from a physical and mental standpoint.

But that’s where a team that has grown accustomed to winning and made reaching the postseason a regular occurrence is so dangerous. Many teams would have all but given up after Game 3 and likely surrendered the series in Game 4 in a hostile environment on the road.

“We won the (NL) West, yes. But that team is loaded, man,” Hernández said of the Padres. “They’re stacked — not just the rotation, but the lineup and the bullpen and defense and the way they run the bases and the way they play the game. It’s a tough team to beat in October.”

Still, there isn’t a situation or scenario that these Dodgers haven’t seen, and that was evident when they were able to split and play a one-game series in Game 4 and again in Game 5. And behind a rock-solid bullpen that held San Diego scoreless for the final 24 innings of the series, they defeated the best opponent left in the postseason.

“We know we have the ball club that can come from behind,” said Teoscar Hernández, who added the Dodgers’ second solo home run in the seventh. “Obviously we didn’t get the results we wanted in the two games we lost, but we’re keeping our minds where they were at the start of the series.”

This series had a little bit of everything – drama, star power, energy, atmosphere – and there’s no denying that it was the most intense series of this postseason yet. So after coming back from a 2-1 deficit, the Dodgers have some momentum of their own as they prepare to face the red-hot Mets on Sunday in Game 1 of the NLCS.

“It’s similar to 2004 when we beat the Yankees, when I was a player for the Red Sox,” manager Dave Roberts said after his team’s victory. “It rivals beating the Braves in 2020 to get to the World Series. … You’re talking about one of the best teams in baseball. … And it was a dog fight, and I have nothing but respect for the guys there.

“But to win this series the way we did, to fall behind a little bit – and those guys coming into the postseason had a lot of momentum – speaks to the character of our guys. This is right there.”