Little has gone as expected for the Los Angeles Dodgers throughout the 2025 season, but their starting pitching has emerged as a strength for the team since August.

That’s coincided with the Dodgers rotation getting healthy, as the likes of Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow returned from the injured list. Meanwhile, Clayton Kershaw has pitched well in his 18th season, Shohei Ohtani is finding his footing on the mound and Yoshinobu Yamamoto continues to shine as an ace.

Manager Dave Roberts and Kiké Hernández have both recently expressed a belief the Dodgers will be carried in October by their starting rotation.

Of course, the Dodgers certainly would stand to benefit from improved offense as the past week demonstrated that quality contributions from their rotation can still result in losses.

Dodgers lose no-hitters in 9th inning

While the Dodgers were mired in a disappointing road trip amid being swept by the Pittsburgh Pirates and losing in walk-off fashion to the Baltimore Orioles, Yamamoto put forth a dominant performance this past Saturday.

He was one out away from completing a no-hitter, only for Jackson Holliday to break it up with a home run. Roberts removed Yamamoto at that point, but Blake Treinen struggled and Tanner Scott wound up allowing a walk-off hit for the second consecutive game.

The Dodgers are the first team on record to lose a no-hit bid in the ninth twice in a 3-game span

— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) September 9, 2025

The jarring turn of events left the Dodgers winless on their road trip, but they avoided being swept by the Orioles by coming away with a win on Sunday.

The start of their homestand then saw Tyler Glasnow return to the mound after being scratched from his outing late last week because of lower back tightness. Glasnow didn’t show any lingering effects of that as he pitched seven no-hit innings.

Treinen retired the side in order in the eighth inning, but Scott allowed a leadoff double in the ninth. Though, he avoided the Dodgers losing the game after having a no-hitter so late.

Nevertheless, the Dodgers still became the first team in MLB history to twice lose a no-hitter in the ninth inning over a span of three games.

“More exciting than nerve wracking,” Roberts said of the Dodgers nearly completing no-hitters in recent days. “I think that when you’re talking about other guys with blisters, and guys coming off IL that are 36 years old, those are a little bit more nerve wracking.

“But with with Yamamoto, I felt good about him going through the ninth, and tonight, I think everything that’s gone on recently, it was kind of easy for me. But I was more excited that these guys are throwing the baseball well.”

The Dodgers have thrown 23 no-hitters in franchise history and only one was a combined no-no.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s near no-hitter

Yamamoto threw a career-high 112 pitches against the Orioles, which were only two more than what previously was his most in a start — over seven innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks on May 20.

Given how matters ultimately went for the Dodgers, there was some external debate over whether Yamamoto should have been afforded an opportunity to pitch a complete game even after losing the no-hitter and shutout. However, Roberts felt the Dodgers had already pushed the right-hander plenty far.

Yamamoto threw two no-hitters in Japan, once each in 2022 and 2023.

Tyler Glasnow’s no-hit bid

Glasnow wasn’t efficient but still dominated the Colorado Rockies to the tune of 11 strikeouts. He nevertheless fell into a 1-0 deficit in the second inning because of a walk, stolen base, fly out and sacrifice fly.

“Obviously, when you get taken out of the game, I want to stay in, no matter what my pitch count is. I think given my track record, I kind of understand why,” Glasnow said after the game.

“I mean, if I was healthy every single season, it would maybe be a different story. But I respect the decision, and they wanted to take me out, and we ended up winning, so that’s pretty good.”

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