by Megan Garcia
Sunday’s version of Yoshinobu Yamamoto didn’t compare to the one that has regularly dominated in 2025. And it was uncharacteristic of him not to find an adjustment.
The Yankees pounced on Yamamoto from the start. His 28-pitch first inning consisted of one run, two singles, two walks and six batters.
The pressure continued to mount for the right-hander and after being pushed to 96 pitches in 3 2/3 innings with four earned runs, Yamamoto was done.
“I think he just was out of sync from the get-go,” said manager Dave Roberts. “It was certainly the command — it wasn’t there with any of his pitches. It was just really uncharacteristic.”
His shortest outing of the season, combined with some uncharacteristic play and the offense’s lowest output in a week factored in the Dodgers’ 7–3 loss to the Yankees.
“Since the beginning of the game, I was not able to control my pitches,” Yamamoto said. “And then during the game, I was trying to make an adjustment. I was not able to do that.”
Yamamoto’s two strikeouts on Sunday are the fewest he’s recorded in a start this season. His four walks matched a season-high that he set against the Pirates on April 25.
He induced only eight swings-and-misses against the Yankees — four coming off his fastball. Yamamoto struggled with his splitter on Sunday. Entering the series finale, it’s been his put-away pitch with 37 strikeouts, the most in his arsenal, and a .114 batting average (9-for-79).
On Sunday, the Yankees scored three runs on Yamamoto’s splitter via a single in the first by Jasson Domínguez and a two-run homer in the third by Ben Rice.
“It was not only the splitter command, but it was also the fastball and the curveball. Overall, my command wasn’t there.” Yamamoto said.
Offense Comes Up Short
It wasn’t the offensive thrill that headlined their wins in the series against the Yankees.
Andy Pages and Max Muncy led the Dodgers with two hits each. The duo hit solo homers in the seventh to cut into the Yankees’ lead to 6–3.
Muncy went 5-for-10 with three home runs and eight RBI against the Yankees in the series. Pages went 5-for-12 with two home runs and five RBI.
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“You have to focus on the positives — we took two out of three against a really, really good team,” Muncy said. “We’re obviously upset we didn’t get this one. We played two really good games. From the offensive standpoint, we battled back today. We put together good at-bats, just the result wasn’t there.”
Tommy Edman got the Dodgers on the board in the second with his ninth homer of the year.
The Dodgers had 18 swings and miss against Yankee starter and former Dodger Ryan Yarbrough. Yarbrough allowed one run and four hits over six innings.
Reinforcements on the Way
Right-hander Noah Davis was recalled on Sunday to replace right-hander Luis García, who was placed on the injured list with a right adductor strain.
Michel Kopech threw one inning for Triple-A Oklahoma City in a rehab assignment on Sunday. He recorded a walk and a strikeout and threw 21 pitches (11 strikes).
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After Mookie Betts provided an update on his fractured toe, he participated in infield drills on Sunday.
Dodgers fall short of a sweep of the Yankees was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.