Yoshinobu Yamamoto goes eight in 3-2 loss to BoSox

The 28-year-old right-hander racked up eight strikeouts on the night while issuing one base on balls. The lone tally against him — and the only run scored by either team — came on a solo blast off the bat of Drake Baldwin in the opening inning. Unfortunately for Yamamoto and for fantasy managers, that was enough to do him in on Thursday. He got a whopping 20 swings and misses on 105 pitches on the night, registering a CSW of 30 percent. Now 12-8 on the season, he’ll carry a 2.56 ERA, 0.89 WHIP and a 153/36 K/BB ratio (158 innings) into Thursday’s matchup against the Cardinals.

Yamamoto left with a 4-2 lead, but he doesn’t get the win — even though the Dodgers did — because the Los Angeles bullpen couldn’t hold that cushion. The 28-year-old has whiffed 21 hitters over his last two outings, and his ERA is now a healthy 2.61 on the season. Yamamoto has established himself as one of the very best hurlers in baseball, and he’ll look to continue the good run next weekend against the Tigers in Detroit.

Yamamoto struck out nine and sported a 37 percent CSW. It’s the 11th time in 22 starts this year that he’s allowed one or no runs. He’ll make his next start on six days’ rest next Friday versus the Pirates.

It was not an efficient start for Yamamoto, as he needed 107 pitches to get his 17 outs, and he walked three. It was still an effective one — as it usually is for the 27-year-old — that saw him allow just three hits and strike out six while lowering his ERA to 2.65. Yamamoto will look to keep this going — and work a smidgen deeper into the game — next weekend against the Brewers.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Emmet Sheehan will start Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Henriquez made a brief appearance Thursday, retiring one of the three Mariners he faced in the seventh inning. He probably won’t pitch more than inning against Boston.

Yamamoto allowed five hits, walked three and struck out five in earning his 11th victory. It was his 15th quality start, which is tied with Sandy Alcantara for most in the majors. He’ll face the Red Sox for the first time next weekend.

Yamamoto, who did throw two complete games in the postseason last year, allowed four hits, walked none and struck out seven in a 102-pitch masterpiece. He gave up a homer to Trent Grisham in the fourth. The other run came in the eighth after center fielder Andy Pages lost Jazz Chisholm Jr.'s flyball in the sun for a double, and Anthony Volpe followed with an RBI single. Yamamoto is the first pitcher to throw a complete game against the Yankees since Sandy Alcantara on Aug. 12, 2023. He’ll take a 10-6 record and a 2.78 ERA into his next outing against the Mets.

He’ll be followed by Emmet Sheehan on Saturday and Yoshinobu Yamamoto on Sunday. The Dodgers have not announced when Shohei Ohtani will return to the rotation. That makes it likely that it’ll be Justin Wrobleski and Eric Lauer in some order for the first two games against the Phillies in Philadelphia to open next week.

Yamamoto allowed five hits, and he struck out six while issuing four walks. The normally effective — effective seems like an understatement — was solid over the first five innings with just one run allowed, but fell apart in the sixth while allowing a five-piece; including a three-run homer from James McCann. Yamamoto’s first half was excellent despite this clunker, and he’ll be one of the first starters for the Dodgers after the break. It’s worth noting he’s not pitching in the All-Star break, so fantasy managers won’t have to wait long.

Yamamoto was an All-Star last year but was ineligible to pitch in the game after starting the Sunday before the game. This year, he’s eligible and will attend but will not pitch. Roberts gave no reason for the decision. Yamamoto is pitching tonight against the Diamondbacks.