After a rain delay yesterday, there was fear of worse rain today, but they managed to avoid it in part due to a pitchers’ duel. Yoshinobu Yamamoto was definitely better than his counterpart Erick Fedde, but the fact of the matter is both left with zeroes on the board. The Dodgers had a ton more chances but were able to take advantage of none of them, following up their 1-for-13 with RISP yesterday (with the one being an infield single) with a 0-for-12 performance today. They did tie the game on a wild pitch, but that just gave them more chances to humiliate themselves. Of course, it was a messy play that led to a gift of a run to the Cardinals in the 8th and then another error that helped secure a 2-1 loss.
Just brutal.
======
Looking for a rebound start, mess found Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the 1st. After a single and a walk with one-out, eventually the runners were cornered with two down, and the Cardinals ran a pickle play on the bases to try and score the run. Fortunately, it ended up with the third-base runner being ruled out of the basepath trying to avoid a tag by Max Muncy, and Yoshinobu was out of the mess.
Yeah, I mean, if it’s three feet then this is definitely three feet. https://t.co/LXwlvTaCL5 pic.twitter.com/fN87oOB5YW
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) June 7, 2025
Things were even worse in the 2nd after two outs, as a single, single, and hit batter loaded things up. However, he got a strikeout to escape that jam and keep the game scoreless.
The Dodgers needed him to settle down, and he did just that, taking 21 pitches to get through clean frames in the 3rd and 4th. He faced trouble in the 5th after a lead-off walk and a one-out single that Muncy should’ve caught, but brushed that off by getting the next two batters to strand a threat again.
While he was sort of rolling, the early traffic caused his pitch count to inflate, and even a clean 6th saw him reach the end of his rope. Mookie Betts, shortstop, helped ensure said clean frame.
Mookie Betts, shortstop. pic.twitter.com/6YIvGKKzb8
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) June 7, 2025
About what they needed from their ace: 6 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 9 K, 94 Pitches.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto strikes out 9 over 6 shutout frames, which unfortunately only prolonged our torture from his dumbass team. pic.twitter.com/ODpVS0WTWH
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) June 7, 2025
On the other side, Cardinals starter Erick Fedde began on fire, getting the 1st on just eight pitches and deepening frustrations with the offense. After a one-out walk and a two-out stolen base in the 2nd that continued the stranding of runners, the struggles only got worse in the 3rd. After two quick outs, the top of the order rallied to load the bases behind a walk, single, and walk, but Will Smith just missed clearing the bases down the left-field line on a 3-2 count before flying out on a great pitch.
They then wasted a lead-off single in the 4th, as the difference between Yamamoto and Fedde is that the latter couldn’t miss bats, yet the Dodgers missed their pitches while in good counts and wasted that chance. The same went for the 5th when Hyeseong Kim led off with a single and stole second for the top of the order, who then went down in order to waste that prime chance.
The 6th saw another huge opportunity, as a lead-off walk was followed by Muncy’s second hit of the day. But Fedde made his last batter count with a strikeout, and then Steven Matz entered to get two more outs to deepen their struggles.
Matz continued in the 7th, giving up Kim’s second hit of the day to start, and with one down he almost got killed by a Mookie Betts liner back up the box to put a pair on. But he stayed in the game and induced a double play to escape yet again.
Mookie’s comebacker terrifyingly close to getting Matz flush. pic.twitter.com/W2yoGM3qMW
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) June 7, 2025
——
So Yamamoto would not get the win, and Alex Vesia entered for the Dodgers in the 7th, where he looked strong with a pair of strikeouts in a 12-pitch frame.
They handed things to Ben Casparius in the 8th, and the Cards were aggressive against him. After four pitches, he had got one out and given up two singles, putting him in trouble. He rebounded with a second out, and then got a comebacker that deflected off his body for a single. That wasn’t a problem on its own, but instead of eating it, he tried to make a play and the run scored on the throw to first he had no chance on.
THAT’S WHAT SPEED DO ? pic.twitter.com/FOrPU1cywI
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) June 7, 2025
Amazingly they managed to do it again in the 8th against Kyle Leahy, as Muncy walked with one out and Enrique Hernandez singled with two outs, only for it to go for nothing.
They got fortunate in the 9th against Ryan Helsley, as after a strikeout to start, a Shohei Ohtani grounder up the middle hit the bag for a single that would’ve been the second out.
Mookie Betts followed with a single of his own to corner the runners, and thankfully they didn’t need a hit with RISP to score, as a wild pitch on a Freddie Freeman strikeout tied the game at 1-1 before Will Smith made the final out with a runner on second to make it 0-for-12.
Tie game! pic.twitter.com/J48ByPObbi
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) June 7, 2025
All that did was make it funnier in the end, as Casparius continued in the 9th and continued to look shaky. He gave up a lead-off double, then fielded a sac bunt and threw high to first for an error to corner the runners with nobody out.
That is indeed 0-for-12.
[image or embed]
— Chad Moriyama (@chadmoriyama.bsky.social) June 7, 2025 at 10:55 AM
With a five-man infield a routine fly to left fell in for a single for the walk-off.
======
The series will conclude tomorrow at the same way-too-early-for-me time at 8:15 AM HT/11:15 AM PT/2:15 PM ET, hopefully without any rain. It’ll be Clayton Kershaw taking the bump against … somebody, maybe a pen game?
