After flirting with perfection, Yamamoto gets another look at Orioles

LOS ANGELES -- Yoshinobu Yamamoto was on the precipice of history in his previous start, when he came three outs away from no-hitting the White Sox. He got even closer than that the last time he faced his next opponent: the Orioles.

Yamamoto will get another crack at the Orioles -- and perhaps, another shot at history -- on Saturday night at Dodger Stadium.

Last September in Baltimore, Yamamoto was an out away from no-hitting the Orioles at Camden Yards before he surrendered a solo home run to Jackson Holliday. The game took a heartbreaking turn from there, as the Orioles went on to walk off the Dodgers' bullpen for the second straight night.

Yamamoto's start last Saturday in Chicago had a happier ending, although he still fell short of his first Major League no-hitter. Yamamoto was working on a perfect-game bid until shortstop Mookie Betts made a fielding error with two outs in the eighth inning. The no-hit bid remained intact, but not for much longer, as Yamamoto surrendered a solo homer to Tristan Peters to open the bottom of the ninth.

In the Expansion Era (since 1961), Yamamoto and Bowden Francis are the only pitchers to lose two no-hitters on ninth-inning home runs.

Between his last two starts, Yamamoto had a hidden perfect game, so to speak. He set down his final 22 batters in order on June 6 before retiring his first 23 last Saturday, tying Mark Buerhle (2009) for the second-longest streak of consecutive batters retired in Major League history, one shy of Yusmeiro Petit's record (46 in 2014).

Going back even farther, Yamamoto has been on a roll lately. He has gone 4-1 with a 1.01 ERA (four earned runs in 35 2/3 innings) in his past five starts. He leads the Dodgers with 85 2/3 innings and has looked like every bit the ace his team has needed.

With Yamamoto throwing the ball as well as he has been, the Dodgers believe it will only be a matter of time before he gets the no-hitter that has eluded him in two and a half Major League seasons. Yamamoto felt some disappointment after his two near-misses, but he took some solace in doing enough for his team to at least win the game last Saturday. To him, that matters more than the feat itself.