Yamamoto bests Darvish in a memorable contest as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the San Diego Padres 2-0 to advance to the NLCS.
The Los Angeles Dodgers spent $1 billion on Japanese talent during the offseason, and it’s paying off in the playoffs. Yoshinobu Yamamoto outperformed Yu Darvish in a historic postseason matchup featuring Japanese-born pitchers.
The Dodgers secured home runs from Kiké Hernández and Teoscar Hernández to defeat the San Diego Padres 2-0 on Friday, allowing them to advance to the National League Championship Series. “It’s pretty sweet,” said a smiling Freddie Freeman.
Yamamoto gave up only two hits over five innings to earn the win, leaving the game after 63 pitches in a crucial Game 5 between rival teams that have faced off in the Division Series three times in five years.
He signed a $325 million, 12-year contract in December, shortly after the Dodgers brought in superstar Shohei Ohtani from the Los Angeles Angels with a record-setting $700 million, 10-year deal.
Ohtani and the odgers will face the wild-card New York Mets in a best-of-seven NLCS starting Sunday in Los Angeles. “We’re ready for the next level,” manager Dave Roberts said.
This was the first time the Dodgers won a decisive Game 5 at home since their 1981 NL Division Series victory against Houston, which took place after a season interrupted by a players’ strike.
Yu Darvish pitches in the 1st inning
“We went through a lot of injuries, a lot of ups and a lot of downs. We fight, we fight and keep going,” said star outfielder Mookie Betts.
“All season everybody says the Dodgers are winning the World Series, the Dodgers are winning the World Series. And we get to this series, and all of a sudden we’re the underdog.”
Having the best regular-season record in the majors at 98-64, they avoided a third consecutive NLDS elimination.
“We’d been in a little bit of a DS funk,” said Andrew Friedman, president of baseball operations. “For the guys that had been there, they could feel that after we got down 2-1. The new guys wanted no part of that.”
The Padres’ key players struggled when their season was on the line. Three-time batting champion Luis Arraez, Fernando Tatis Jr., Jurickson Profar, and Manny Machado combined for just 1 hit in 14 at-bats during Game 5, while Los Angeles pitchers retired their last 19 batters.
“Everybody was picking them to win because we have no pitching, we can’t hit with runners in scoring position, this and that,” said a soaked Kiké Hernández. “We’re the ones popping bottles now.”
San Diego’s strong lineup did not score in the last 24 innings of the series, losing the final two games after leading 2-1.
“I think stunning is appropriate,” said Padres manager Mike Shildt. Machado added, “It’s a devastating one for sure.”
Yamamoto and Darvish made history as the first Japanese-born starting pitchers to face each other in a major league playoff game. The 26-year-old Yamamoto was also the fifth rookie to start a winner-take-all game in Dodgers history.
