TORONTO — Been there, done that.
In his final year pitching for the Orix Buffaloes, Yoshinobu Yamamoto took the mound for Game 6 of the 2023 Japan Series with the Buffaloes facing elimination. Yamamoto struck out a Japan Series record 14 batters and threw 138 pitches in a complete-game victory, forcing a Game 7.
It is the same scenario the Dodgers and Yamamoto face against the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 6 of the World Series on Friday night in Toronto.
“Right guy at the right time,” outfielder Kiké Hernandez said of Yamamoto taking the ball with the Dodgers facing elimination for the first time since Game 5 of the National League Division Series against the San Diego Padres last fall – a game Yamamoto also started and won, pitching the first five innings of a shutout.
Hernandez’s faith is well-founded. Yamamoto has quickly established himself as a postseason performer. Starting with that closeout victory over the Padres, Yamamoto is 5-1 with a 1.62 ERA in his past seven postseason starts – including back-to-back complete games in his most recent starts.
“To be honest, I don’t know why,” Yamamoto said through his interpreter when asked the source of his poise and success in the most important games. “I just don’t feel too much difference. I have to just get myself ready, and then only one thing we have to do is just win.”
Yamamoto further elevated his status by volunteering to pitch in the 18-inning Game 3 marathon – on one day’s rest after throwing 105 pitches in the second of those complete games.
First baseman Freddie Freeman related a story from that late night that will become part of Yamamoto’s legend if he can extend the series on Friday night.
After volunteering to take over for reliever Will Klein (extended to four innings and 72 pitches as Game 3 kept going and going), Yamamoto was lightly playing catch in the bullpen, testing his arm.
“(The coaches asked), ‘Hey, like, can you go?’ And he said, ‘Yeah, I can go,’” Freeman said, recounting the story second hand. “And they’re like, ‘Well, you need to pick it up, because you’re going to come into the 19th inning.’ And they said his next pitch was 97 (mph) dotted, down and away, in the bullpen. And I was like, yeah, that’s incredible. I hope it epitomizes Yoshi and what he was going to do for us.”
Game 6 is likely to hinge on what the Dodgers can do for him.
“We’ve got a lot of confidence in him,” shortstop Mookie Betts said. “But we’ve got to hit. We’ve got to hit. Yoshi is going to do his thing. We need him to, obviously. But we’ve got to hit. There’s no way around that.”
There isn’t. If Yamamoto has risen to the occasion when called upon this fall, the Dodgers’ offense has shrunk on the biggest stage. The Dodgers have scored just four runs over the past 29 innings against the Blue Jays and two or fewer in five of their past 11 games. In the first five games of the World Series, they have been outhit .261 to .201 by the Blue Jays.
“We gotta hit the ball. We gotta hit the ball,” third baseman Max Muncy said in the somber locker room following the Game 5 loss. “You look at what they’re doing, they put the ball in play a lot, and it’s finding spots. We’re not putting the ball in play a lot, and when we do, it seems to be finding the glove. So, we gotta find a way to put the ball in play a lot more and luck will turn.”
The Blue Jays have 15 more hits than the Dodgers in the first five games while the Dodgers have struck out 11 more times than the Blue Jays (including a total of 15 in Game 5). Freeman diagnosed it as the result of “going up there just trying to hit home runs – it’s just not the name of the game.”
“I think it’s just human nature,” said Freeman, who was the 2024 World Series MVP. “It’s the World Series. Sometimes you want to do a lot. That’s just kind of how it is. I think we’ve got a few games in, and you recognize what’s going on, and then you can reel it back in. We’re all human. We all want to hit home runs on the biggest of stages. It’s just kind of what happens.
“Now it’s on us to stop that pattern and get back to being who we are.”
Before the Dodgers’ workout at Rogers Centre on Thursday, Manager Dave Roberts admitted the sluggish offense had been on his mind during the long flight to Toronto.
“You know what? I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about this. I’m sure our guys too,” Roberts said. “Intent, mechanics – I think right now, we got to find a way to win one game. And I could dive into my thoughts, but I think at the end of the day, they just have to compete and fight in the batter’s box. And it’s one-on-one, the hitter versus the pitcher, and that’s it. Really. I mean, I think that that sort of mindset is all I’ll be looking for and expect good things to happen from that.”
Hernandez wouldn’t say there has been a lack of fight but acknowledged “Hitting creates energy” and there hasn’t been much of either the past two games.
“We’re going through one of those funks right now. It’s just really bad timing to have those in the World Series,” he said.
“Yoshi’s going to show up. He’s going to take that mound and he’s going to show up and he’s going to do his thing. We need to do a little better job at putting together runs. Seems like whenever we get traffic on, we find a way to get ourselves out of traffic and put ourselves back on defense. Bottom line, we’ve just got to be better. We’ve been pretty bad as a group. We just need to be better.”