Giants rock Dodgers’ Yamamoto

Los Angeles, CA (News4usonline) – Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto threw hard against the San Francisco Giants. At times, Yamamoto was on point, striking out eight batters. He also threw a couple of pitches that he wished he could have back.   

That especially took to form in the fifth inning in the second game of a four-game series against the Dodgers’ West Division rivals. The Giants got two solo home runs in the fifth inning that sprung San Francisco into the lead that they did not surrender for the rest of the game. 

San Francisco then scored three more runs in their half of the seventh inning and broke open a close game to secure a 6-2 win at Dodger Stadium. 

“I think Yoshinobu, a little bit, ran out of gas right there,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said in his postgame comments. 

Except for a couple of bang-bang plays that didn’t go their way, the Dodgers might have pulled this one, Roberts said.  

“In the first inning, it was really promising,” Roberts said. “I thought Will [Smith] had a great at-bat. [Jung Hoo] Lee makes a great catch over his shoulder, which really could have been the difference in the game. Instead of giving up three runs and still one out, it’s two outs and then giving up one run. So that was a real game-changing play.” 

It wasn’t Yamamoto’s finest hour during most of the six and one-third innings that he pitched, Yamamoto looked strong. He looked like he was in command for the duration that he was out on the mound.  

He managed to strike out eight batters. Sounds like a good recipe for a win for the Dodgers. But those numbers are somewhat misleading. At times, Yamamoto showed he could be dominant. He also showed that he can be touched.

The Giants went yard on Yamamoto three times for three solo home runs in San Francisco’s second win of the series. Yamamoto was tagged for six hits and gave up five runs in absorbing his third (3-3) defeat of the season. 

Yamamoto faced 25 batters in his start and threw 93 pitches, 66 of them strikes. Unfortunately for Yamamoto and the Dodgers, three of those pitches would land in the outfield bleachers. 

Yamamoto gave up two home runs to Eric Haase, who nearly had a third dinger except the baseball dropped into Andy Pages’ mitt right in front of the centerfield wall. With the Giants smashing away to 10 hits on the night, the Dodgers did very little in the offensive category. 

Outside of a Shohei Ohtani solo home run, the bats of the Dodgers were kept quiet most of the game, coming up with just four hits. 

Shortstop Mookie Betts, third baseman Max Muncy, catcher Will Smith and Teoscar Hernandez all went hitless in this game.  

After dropping the opening game of the series, the Dodgers lost their second game in as many nights against the Giants. The defeat dropped the Dodgers to 24-18 on the season. Meanwhile, the Giants, second to last in the West, improved to 18-24.  

A quarter into the 2026 Major League Baseball season, the Los Angeles Dodgers haven’t played like the two-time world champions that they are. But it’s early. Thus far, the play of the Dodgers has been uneven, given their second-place standing behind the San Diego Padres in the West. 

Cover Art: Photo by Dennis J. Freeman / News4usonline