The Los Angeles Dodgers spent $1 billion on Japanese talent during the offseason, and it’s paying off in the playoffs. Yoshinobu Yamamoto outperformed Yu Darvish in a historic postseason matchup featuring Japanese-born pitchers.
The Dodgers secured home runs from Kiké Hernández and Teoscar Hernández to defeat the San Diego Padres 2-0 on Friday, allowing them to advance to the National League Championship Series. “It’s pretty sweet,” said a smiling Freddie Freeman.
Yamamoto gave up only two hits over five innings to earn the win, leaving the game after 63 pitches in a crucial Game 5 between rival teams that have faced off in the Division Series three times in five years.
He signed a $325 million, 12-year contract in December, shortly after the Dodgers brought in superstar Shohei Ohtani from the Los Angeles Angels with a record-setting $700 million, 10-year deal.
Ohtani and the Dodgers will face the wild-card New York Mets in a best-of-seven NLCS starting Sunday in Los Angeles. “We’re ready for the next level,” manager Dave Roberts said.
This was the first time the Dodgers won a decisive Game 5 at home since their 1981 NL Division Series victory against Houston, which took place after a season interrupted by a players’ strike.
“We went through a lot of injuries, a lot of ups and a lot of downs. We fight, we fight and keep going,” said star outfielder Mookie Betts.
“All season everybody says the Dodgers are winning the World Series, the Dodgers are winning the World Series. And we get to this series, and all of a sudden we’re the underdog.”
Having the best regular-season record in the majors at 98-64, they avoided a third consecutive NLDS elimination.
“We’d been in a little bit of a DS funk,” said Andrew Friedman, president of baseball operations. “For the guys that had been there, they could feel that after we got down 2-1. The new guys wanted no part of that.”
The Padres’ key players struggled when their season was on the line. Three-time batting champion Luis Arraez, Fernando Tatis Jr., Jurickson Profar, and Manny Machado combined for just 1 hit in 14 at-bats during Game 5, while Los Angeles pitchers retired their last 19 batters.
“Everybody was picking them to win because we have no pitching, we can’t hit with runners in scoring position, this and that,” said a soaked Kiké Hernández. “We’re the ones popping bottles now.”
San Diego’s strong lineup did not score in the last 24 innings of the series, losing the final two games after leading 2-1.
“I think stunning is appropriate,” said Padres manager Mike Shildt. Machado added, “It’s a devastating one for sure.”
Yamamoto and Darvish made history as the first Japanese-born starting pitchers to face each other in a major league playoff game. The 26-year-old Yamamoto was also the fifth rookie to start a winner-take-all game in Dodgers history.
“It was awesome to be able to pitch with him, to share the mound on such a big stage,” Darvish said through an interpreter. “He’s not just a great pitcher, but he is a great human being, too. It was a great night for both of us.”
Yamamoto joined Orel Hershiser, Jerry Reuss, Sandy Koufax, and Johnny Podres as the only Dodgers pitchers to have a scoreless start of at least five innings in a winner-take-all postseason game.
“For Yamamoto, I don’t think any of us can appreciate the pressure on a global scale,” Roberts said. “He was pitching for the country of Japan.”
Yamamoto handed the ball to a strong bullpen that supported the Dodgers throughout the regular season when their starting pitchers were hurt. Evan Phillips got five outs, striking out Profar and Machado in the seventh inning before Alex Vesia struck out rookie standout Jackson Merrill to end the inning.
Vesia was warming up for the eighth inning when he left with an injury. Michael Kopech came in and had a perfect inning before Blake Treinen got three quick outs for his third career postseason save and second of the series.
With that, the NL West champions rushed out of the dugout for hugs and then went back into their clubhouse for another celebration. Clayton Kershaw, Gavin Lux, Kopech, Walker Buehler, and Tyler Glasnow gathered in a corner smoking victory cigars.
In the middle of the room, with the carpet soaked in alcohol and music playing loudly, a laughing Ohtani enjoyed opening beer bottles and pouring them over the heads of teammates and staff.
“Anytime you’re smelling like champagne, it means you’re doing something good,” said Betts.
The 38-year-old Darvish, who was Ohtani’s childhood idol, gave up an early home run to Kiké Hernández but then retired 14 batters in a row. Teoscar Hernández’s homer chased Darvish in the seventh inning, making the score 2-0.
The Padres and Dodgers together retired 26 consecutive batters, the longest streak in a single game in postseason history.
Darvish allowed three hits in 6 2/3 innings, struck out four, and walked one. He fell to 0-5 in elimination games, despite having four quality starts.
“I thought Yu was magnificent again. Had them off balance. A couple of swings got him. Other than that, he was really good,” said Shildt.
Darvish and Ohtani worked together to win last year’s World Baseball Classic for Japan, but they faced off as rivals on Friday. Ohtani struck out three times, including twice against Darvish, in a game that fans in Japan watched on Saturday morning.
“A lot of fans were looking forward to today’s matchup,” Yamamoto said through an interpreter.
Ohtani hit a tying three-run homer in Game 1, which was his playoff debut, but was mostly quiet for the rest of the series after making history as the first player to reach 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a season.
The teams combined for 43 runs in the first four games of the series, but the winner-take-all finale turned into a tense pitching battle in front of a sold-out crowd of 53,183, which included Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James and Hollywood figures like Brad Pitt, Rob Lowe, Bryan Cranston, and Jimmy Kimmel.
The wild-card Padres ended the series without scoring since the second inning of Game 3. They became the first team to lead 2-1 in a best-of-five series and not score in the last two games.
Yamamoto successfully covered first base three times after getting grounders, which helped Freeman, who played after missing Game 4 due to a sprained right ankle.
Los Angeles was ahead 1-0 thanks to a hit by Kiké Hernández with two outs in the second inning. This was Hernández’s 14th career postseason home run; he was brought back to the Dodgers this season to make a difference in October.
The Dodgers avoided elimination in San Diego with an 8-0 win in Game 4, which brought the series back to Los Angeles. During a Game 2 loss, fans threw balls and trash onto the field, causing a 12-minute delay. The public-address announcer warned fans in the middle of the fifth inning on Friday not to throw objects or go onto the field.
