The Los Angeles Dodgers know they can count on Yoshinobu Yamamoto to throw a lot of innings, and that trait is of extra importance entering Saturday’s game against the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Dodgers used seven pitchers Friday after Shohei Ohtani (left knee) was scratched from his start, so the bullpen is a bit beleaguered entering the middle contest of a three-game series. Arizona took advantage with an easy 9-3 victory in the opener.
Yamamoto (9-5, 2.49 ERA) will look to restore order. The right-hander has put together quality starts in 13 of 16 outings this season.
“The good thing is we’ve got Yamamoto going (Saturday), so we feel good about him taking on a lot of the game,” Roberts said Friday before the implosion of the bullpen game.
The 27-year-old Yamamoto has Tuesday’s All-Star Game on the horizon, and his availability to pitch in that contest may depend on how taxed he is Saturday.
Yamamoto has tossed seven or more innings on seven occasions, topped by 8 1/3 innings against the Chicago White Sox on June 13. In that contest, Yamamoto took a no-hitter into the ninth before Tristan Peters led off the frame with a homer.
In his last outing, Yamamoto matched his season best of 10 strikeouts in a 3-0 victory over the San Diego Padres. He gave up three hits and two walks over seven innings.
Yamamoto has won six of his past seven starts.
Yamamoto’s first start of the season came against the Diamondbacks on March 26. He gave up two runs and five hits over six innings of an 8-2 victory.
Yamamoto has excelled against Arizona, going 4-1 with a 2.08 ERA in seven career starts.
Corbin Carroll (2-for-20, six strikeouts) and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (1-for-11) have struggled against Yamamoto. Geraldo Perdomo (4-for-13), Ketel Marte (5-for-18) and Gabriel Moreno (2-for-12) each have homered against Yamamoto.
Tim Tawa, who is 1-for-3 against Yamamoto, was the Diamondbacks’ lead man in Friday’s assault.
Tawa went 3-for-4 with a homer and matched his career high of four RBIs.
“It felt good. We scored early, which was nice,” Tawa said. “Then we got punched in the mouth a little bit but we were able to respond and did a good job.”
Gabriel Moreno added two hits and two RBIs as Arizona won its second straight game.
While Ohtani couldn’t answer the bell as a pitcher, he did serve as the designated hitter and he’s scheduled to do so again Saturday. He also withdrew from Tuesday’s All-Star game and is slated to undergo an injection next week.
“If affects more of my pitching than the hitting side of the game, that’s the reason why,” Ohtani said through an interpreter on why he can still DH.
Ohtani’s power was in full display when he led off the game with an opposite-field homer to left.
The leadoff blast was Ohtani’s 32nd of his career and 26th with the Dodgers. He trails Mookie Betts (32) and former star Davey Lopes (28) on the franchise’s all-time list.
Andy Pages had three hits and homered right after Ohtani, but Los Angeles lost for the fifth time in its past 17 games.
Arizona will start right-hander Brandon Pfaadt (2-1, 4.84) on Saturday.
Pfaadt, 27, is back in the rotation and has won consecutive starts against the San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres.
He gave up one run and three hits over 5 1/3 innings against the Giants on June 30 and blanked the Padres on four hits over five innings on Monday.
Pfaadt gave up two runs and three hits in an inning of relief against the Dodgers on June 3.
Pfaadt is 4-2 with a 5.32 ERA in nine career appearances (eight starts) against Los Angeles.
Betts (10-for-24, two homers) and Freddie Freeman (8-for-24, one homer) have fared well against Pfaadt.
–Field Level Media
