by Megan Garcia
Yoshinobu Yamamoto took the mound in Atlanta on Friday on the 30th anniversary of Hideo Nomo’s Dodger debut.
Nomo blasted off with a dominant rookie season. Yamamoto is now doing the same in his sophomore season.
Yamamoto is consistently showcasing the dominance that helped him earn elite pitcher status in Japan. His six scoreless innings in the Dodgers’ 2–1 win against the Braves was the latest example.
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It also extended the Dodgers’ winning streak to six games.
“The split was fantastic. The command was back to being who is,” said manager Dave Roberts. “I think the last (start) he just wasn’t as sharp. But today, he got back the command and the split really played tonight.”
Yamamoto pitched five innings against the Pirates in his last start on April 25. He struck out five and walked four batters as he allowed one earned run. It led to his second loss of the season.
Yamamoto relied on his splitter and four-seam fastball to handle the Braves. The Atlanta offense went 0-for-11 with one walk against the two-pitch combo. Opposing hitters were batting .189 (7-for-37) against his four-seamer entering Friday.
He carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning as the lone Braves’ hit came from Austin Riley with a two-out single. Yamamoto kept his composure and forced a ground out to the next hitter.
“I’ve been able to perform very well at a high level,” Yamamoto said. “I think it’s really close to (my) best time in Japan.”
The Braves left three baserunners stranded against Yamamoto, two being via walks to Marcell Ozuna. He’s pitched at least six innings in four of his seven starts this season. He also has four scoreless outings among those starts.
A few hours before the game’s first pitch, Yamamoto was named the National League’s Player of the Month. He entered the game with a 1.06 ERA, the best among qualified starters in baseball. He lowered it to 0.90 with his outing against the Braves.
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Yamamoto had 60 strikes in the 91 pitches he threw. He had a 34% called-strike-whiff rate against the 21 batters he faced. Yamamoto struck out six — four of them were swinging.
“He dominated today, and I feel like it wasn’t even the best version of Yama,” said Evan Phillips, who earned his first save of the season on Friday. “Which is crazy (because) when you talk about routine and work ethic and talent, this guy is one of the best in the game. It’s fun to watch.”
Catcher Will Smith brought in the first run of the game with a sacrifice fly in the fourth. Mookie Betts added to the Dodgers’ lead with a solo homer in the sixth — his fifth of the season.
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The Braves scored a run in the seventh with Matt Olson hitting a home run against reliever Kirby Yates.
Yamamoto aces start against Braves on Nomo’s 30th anniversary was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.