After a rough road trip that saw uneven performances by the Dodgers, they returned home and got a stellar performance from Yoshinobu Yamamoto as he continued his ace-ish start to the season. However, the offense struggled to start the game, which kept the tension high, but Tommy Edman‘s big homer put the Dodgers ahead for good in a 3-0 victory over the Cubs.
By the way it was Freddie Freeman bobblehead night to commemorate his grand slam from Game 1 of the World Series.
Freddie’s dad teaching Brandon how to do Dad’s walk-off grand slam pose. ? pic.twitter.com/RLP0xO8GU0
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 12, 2025
Sigh him up.
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Looking to pickup a struggling starting staff, Yoshinobu Yamamoto looked as in control today as he ever has. He begun by setting down the first 10 batters he faced, but ran into trouble in a hurry in the 4th after a one-out double by Kyle Tucker was followed by a Seiya Suzuki single to right. However, Tucker was held at third and Suzuki tried to go for second, resulting in a rundown and out number two on the basepaths. Yamamoto responded to the thread with a strikeout to keep the zeros going.
Yamamoto went right back to work with a clean 5th, including a nasty strikeout on a shuuto.
Damn. pic.twitter.com/epN35Z239B
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) April 12, 2025
He continued with two outs in the 6th before issuing a walk to get Tucker to the plate, but he responded with his ninth strikeout of the night to complete his outstanding night.
In the last half-inning, Edman also helped prevent a threat on defense. pic.twitter.com/MxrWiIX0Er
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) April 12, 2025
Ace-level performance: 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 9 K, 103 Pitches.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto strikes out nine over a dominant six innings. pic.twitter.com/Ih3STnksoe
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) April 12, 2025
Unfortunately, it looked like he might not even get the win for a while, as Matthew Boyd added five more innings to make it 16 scoreless start to the season. He gave up just a walk in the 1st and 2nd, as well as a single in the 3rd and 5th, but there wasn’t much doing as he was efficient and dominant.
Thankfully, the 6th happened, and with one out and down 0-2 in the count, Teoscar Hernandez poked a single. Freddie Freeman got hit by a pitch to give the Dodgers their first runner in scoring position all night, and of course, who else by slugger Tommy Edman to step up and a drill a homer to left for a 3-0 lead. That being his sixth homer ties him for the NL lead.
Tommy is unstoppable! pic.twitter.com/gAwsVSRJt6
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 12, 2025
And so entered the pen of the Cubs, who started by allowing a pair of singles in the 7th but no runs, then got a clean 8th to close the books on the Dodger offense.
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Their pen counterparts then entered, now with the lead, and Kirby Yates got the heart of the order in the 7th on a dominant 13-pitch inning with a two strikeouts. Setting the table in the 8th was Blake Treinen, who cruised through a 1-2-3 frame on 14 pitches.
To close things out was Tanner Scott in the 9th, who won an 11-pitch battle to start, then got a first pitch out, and closed the game with a lineout.
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11-4, which I must remind you is a 119-win pace, so it’s amusing that they’re third in the NL West.
Same two teams tomorrow but an hour earlier at 3:10 PM HT/6:10 PM PT/9:10 PM ET due to being on the weekend. Roki Sasaki will look to remain in better control, facing off against Ben Brown.
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