LOS ANGELES — Even through the most trying time of the season so far, Yoshinobu Yamamoto has continued to be the Dodgers’ rock.
The bullpen, on the other hand, still has some work to do, while the offense remains in search of some consistency.
That offense managed to rise to the occasion in a three-run 10th inning when Max Muncy’s game-ending sacrifice fly gave the Dodgers a 4-3 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks. The late outburst ended a season-long four-game losing streak.
“It was kind of a big game for us,” Muncy said. “We were definitely in a slide. To get that one against a division opponent, hopefully, gives us a little momentum. Just build on it moving forward.”
Even the celebration immediately after the victory was somewhat subdued as the Dodgers appeared to show more relief than exhilaration. The Dodgers trailed 3-1 in the 10th before Tommy Edman had an RBI double and Will Smith brought home the game-tying run when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
Yamamoto gave up just one hit over seven scoreless innings in a performance that was derailed by a blown save from Tanner Scott, who gave up a game-tying home run with one out in the ninth inning to Gabriel Moreno and a two-run home run to Corbin Carroll in the 10th.
Moreno has three home runs this season and they all have come against the Dodgers.
“Leaving it too much in the zone,” Scott said. “I mean, you never want to see the ball go out of the park, especially late in the game. And what Yama was doing out there, was incredible. … I mean too much on the plate and leaving them good pitches to hit.”
In one of his best starts in a Dodgers uniform, Yamamoto carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning while putting the Dodgers on the brink of victory.
“Will was calling a great game, and I trusted him,” Yamamoto said through an interpreter. “And then I made my best pitches.”
Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman has said the injury issues within the pitching staff are “the No. 1 thing” that keeps him up at night. Manager Dave Roberts said he was just looking for somebody who wouldn’t give up a first-inning run, something the Dodgers have done in each of the four losses on their slide.
But Roberts was actually the one who had an inkling that a strong Yamamoto outing might be coming when asked before the game about his right-hander becoming a staff ace.
“This is one of those starts,” Roberts said. “Obviously we’re mired in a losing streak. He’s our ace. He’s kind of had a couple pedestrian outings his last two. But he’s obviously had a fantastic start to the season. These are the nights that you need your ace to be a stopper and go deep in the game.”
What tipped off Roberts to the stellar performance ahead?
“I think, honestly, what I’ve learned from him over the last year, the last year and a half, I just see a guy that works, very intentional,” Roberts said. “He’s really confident in his ability. I think that the success that he’s had has given him more conviction to execute pitches, to get ahead. I think the last couple of starts before this one, mechanically, he was out of sync, just missing.”
Yamamoto did his part with two walks and nine strikeouts that were one off his season high.
“His curveball was really good tonight (and) the splitter turned out to be really good tonight as well,” Smith said. “He’s always had good fastball command. His changeup was really good. Just mixing it up, keeping them off-balance, going up, down, in, out, all that. He just executed. It was really fun.”
The Dodgers took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning when Freddie Freeman and Smith delivered back-to-back doubles with two outs. Smith now has a hit in seven of his last eight games and was batting .378 in 15 May games before Tuesday.
Yamamoto finished off six no-hit innings when he struck out Carroll looking.
“My pitch count was going up so I wasn’t really thinking about it,” Yamamoto said of the no-hit bid.
Ketel Marte led off the seventh inning with a single off the base of the wall in right-center. Not only did the no-hit bid end, but the Diamondbacks were in position to tie the game when Marte went to second on a wild pitch and to third on a ground out.
But Yamamoto ended the threat by striking out Pavin Smith. He threw a career-high 110 pitches.
“There’s just the ability to go deep in games when you need it, to handle left and right, to be a top-end guy,” Roberts said of Yamamoto. “There’s very few in the big leagues. I just see a confident player. And even that Pavin Smith at-bat, where he got to 100 pitches right there, he wanted that last hitter.”
Again, Arizona was poised to score in the eighth inning against Alex Vesia. Geraldo Perdomo led off with a double and went to third on a bunt single from Tim Tawa. Pinch-hitter Eugenio Suarez popped out and Carroll again struck out as Tawa stole second base.
After Marte was walked intentionally to load the bases, Dodgers right-hander Ben Casparius replaced Vesia and struck out Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to wiggle out of another jam.
In a game that had seven total runs, six were scored after one out in the top of the ninth. When Muncy lifted his fly ball to center, he raised his left arm in the air as Ohtani sprinted home with the game-winning run.
“We got punched in the mouth, and for us to punch right back, I think that was really big out of the group,” Muncy said. “Everyone not giving up, not hanging their head. We still had a chance to win the game and guys went out there and did it.”