Steve Webb
Game 11, 4/6/2024: Dodgers 4, Cubs 1
CHICAGO, IL — Generally it is not advised to load up the bases with nobody out in the first inning. And, it’s even worse to load them up again in the second. But somehow, some way, Yoshinobu Yamamoto was able to pitch through the early traffic today in Chicago until the Dodger bats finally kicked into gear in the middle of the game. They got a three-run inning just in the nick of time to provide Yamamoto the win in his third big league start as the Dodgers beat the Cubbies 4-1 on Saturday afternoon.
It was a bit of funky start time in Chicago on this one (to accomodate the Fox broadcast). The mid-afternoon first pitch made sure that it would be hard to see the ball on Saturday, and indeed it was. In all, the two teams combined for 29 strikeouts, and would explain in part why runs were at a premium even though there was plenty of traffic on the bases, especially in the early going.
That aforementioned first inning had all the earmarks of being a Korea-like meltdown for Yamamoto. He gave up a lead-off double, a walk, and an infield single to juice the bases just three batters into the inning. However, this is not the young righty’s first rodeo. He immediately got busy and struck on back-to-back-to-back Cubs to end the threat and escape unscathed. It wasn’t nearly as dicey in the second, but with two outs, the Northsiders went double, walk, error to load them up yet again. And yet again, he pulled the rabbit out of the hat. In a sight familiar to Dodger fans circa 2022, Cody Bellinger struck out on four pitches and Yamamoto hit the dugout with the scoreless tie preserved.
Once he had gotten through those first two nail-biting innings, it was smooth sailing. He retired the next nine hitters he faced, and made it to the fifth inning to qualify for the W. His line for the day was remarkable, given the high-stress situations that he faced early in the game: 5.0 IP, 3 H 2 BB, 8 K on 80 pitches.
Meanwhile, the Dodger hitters weren’t faring much better at driving in runs in the early going. They went a combined 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position until they finally broke through in the top of the fifth inning. Austin Barnes, who’s looked good at the plate in limited duty this year, led off the inning with a single. After a Mookie Betts strikeout, Shohei Ohtani came through with a single of his own. Freddie Freeman, who had a rare 0-for-5 day, then struck out giving cleanup hitter Teoscar Hernandez an AB with a new pitcher, righty Jose Cues. Cues was a little wild and walked Hernandez to load up the bases. He then uncorked a wild pitch to allow the Dodgers to get on the board. Two pitches later, Max Muncy smoked a four-seamer to right that bounced off the ivy for a two-run double. The Dodgers were up 3-0 and it was a lead that they would hold onto the rest of the game.
After Yamamoto finished off a scoreless outing with a perfect fifth inning, the game was turned over to the bullpen. Ryan Brasier, Joe Kelly, and Daniel Hudson pitched scoreless frames in the sixth, seventh, and eighth, and by the time Evan Phillips took the mound in the ninth, the Dodgers had padded their lead to 4-0 on a RBI hit from Miguel Rojas. Phillips wasn’t super-sharp in the ninth, but he didn’t need to be. He gave up one earned run on two hits and a walk, but got the three outs to end the game without the outcome being in serious doubt.
In the meaningless statistic department, it was the first game of the season that the Dodgers have failed to score five or more runs, breaking their season-opening string at ten games in a row. Still, it was a great win, and another step forward for Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Soon, that horrible inning in Korea will be a distant memory. The Dodgers wrap up their stay in the (literally) Windy City with a Sunday matinee, which gets under way at 11:20 LA time. Gavin Stone will lock horns with that other prized Japanese pitcher, Shota Imanaga. Let’s go!
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