In the Game Thread, I wondered whether today would be the day Yoshinobu Yamamoto would get run support. It was an ideal time as the Brewers were throwing like their #7 or #8 starter, but early it looked sorta bleak. Fortunately, they eventually took advantage of the chances and Yamamoto held up his end of the bargain in a 5-1 victory.
They’ve won three series in a row and are 9-2 in their last 11 games.
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Yoshinobu Yamamoto didn’t have his sharpest stuff, but he made it work throughout his outing.
He faced the minimum in the 1st after an infield single was erased by a double play, but in the 2nd a hit batter, single, and groundout manufactured a run for Brewers to give them a 1-0 lead.
Fortunately, that was about it for them. He faced the minimum in the 3rd thanks to an Andy Pages throw, worked around a single and a walk with two outs in the 4th, got a clean 5th, and worked around two one-out singles thanks to a rally-killing double play in the 6th. He finished up by allowing just a rolling infield single against the shift, as he sorta cruised through the 7th.
WHEN ARE PEOPLE GONNA LEARN NOT TO TEST ANDY 🎯#Dodgers pic.twitter.com/Ac93ClOnsg
— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) May 24, 2026
Giving him run support worked, who knew? 7 IP, 7 H (All Singles), 1 R, 1 BB, 3 K, 92 Pitches.
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As mentioned, Brandon Sproat wasn’t really sharp, but he limited the damage for the most part anyway.
A lead-off walk and two-out double in the 1st was stranded, and the same went for a pair of lead-off walks in the 2nd. After Sproat got a clean 3rd, the Dodgers finally got something in the 4th … via a gift. Back-to-back singles from Teoscar Hernandez and Dalton Rushing were sandwiched between a pair of strikeouts, but Miguel Rojas got hit by a pitch to load things up for Shohei Ohtani. But it was the Moriyama Special that tied the game, as a wild pitch led to a run and Ohtani just grounded out.
You know what never fails? The Moriyama Special. pic.twitter.com/1wHkewGdfp
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) May 24, 2026
Fortunately, Sproat ran out of luck in the 5th. A Mookie Betts infield single started things, and Freddie Freeman drew a walk to knock Sproat out of the game. Shane Drohan entered but provided the opposite of relief, giving up a triple to Kyle Tucker to plate a pair of runs, and then Andy Pages’ 11th homer on the next pitch to make it 5-1.
Kyle triples in a pair! pic.twitter.com/TcvrpuPn2L
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 24, 2026
A moonshot from Andy. pic.twitter.com/Mr1CBULsJH
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 24, 2026
Amusingly, Drohan and friends shut the Dodgers out the rest of the way.
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To finish the game off was Will Klein in the 8th, who went 1-2-3 while striking out a pair, and Tanner Scott in the 9th, who got a 1-2-3 frame of his own with a couple more strikeouts to close out the win.
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33-20 now and in sole possession of the third-best record in baseball despite “playing terrible” and all that.
The Dodgers now return home for a three-game series against the Rockies, starting at 3:10 PM HT/6:10 PM PT/9:10 PM ET. In theory, this should be a series they can take, but we know how that goes. Emmet Sheehan is on the bump looking to find consistency against Kyle Freeland.
