Dodgers Take 2-0 Series Lead as Yamamoto Throws Postseason Complete Game

Los Angeles now leads the National League Championship Series against the Milwaukee Brewers 2-0 after Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched a complete game in a 5-1 victory yesterday, a feat not seen in the postseason since 2017.

Yamamoto allowed just one run – a solo home run to Jackson Chourio leading off the bottom of the first – and then retired the next 14 batters he faced. It was his first complete game as a Dodger, adding to the 14 he previously threw in Japan, including eight shutouts. “That was the first hitter,” Yamamoto said through an interpreter, reflecting on Chourio’s homer. “And I feel regrettable, that home run, but I reset my mind and then I just focused on executing my own pitches.” This marks the first time in Major League Baseball history a team has thrown its first nine-inning complete game of the season in the playoffs.

The Dodgers’ strong starting pitching has been a key factor in their postseason success, with starters going at least six innings in seven of their first eight games – a performance not matched since the 2013 Detroit Tigers. This trend comes as a contrast to the recent decline in starting pitcher endurance, with managers increasingly opting for quicker hooks. For more on postseason pitching trends, see MLB.com. Combined with Blake Snell’s dominant performance in Game 1, the Dodgers are demonstrating a reliance on their established starters rather than a taxed bullpen.

Elsewhere in professional sports, the New York Rangers suffered a historic loss, becoming the first team in National Hockey League history to be shut out in their first three home games of a season. The Dodgers will continue the series in Los Angeles, seeking to close out the Brewers and advance to the World Series.