Yamamoto, Dodgers dominate through 6, but falter in late innings
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LOS ANGELES -- For as long as Yoshinobu Yamamoto cruised, so did his team. But the late innings turned into a grind for both him and the Dodgers.
After beginning his evening with five hitless innings, Yamamoto surrendered a pair of two-run blasts in his final two frames before the Dodgers fell to the Cardinals 8-6 in 10 innings on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium.
Yamamoto's four runs were the most he had allowed since July 11, his final start of the first half. But a Dodgers offense that started hot before fizzling went 1-for-18 with runners in scoring position and stranded 13 runners, ultimately paying the price for squandering opportunities to add on.
Since July 1, the Dodgers have a 26-27 record.
Through five hitless innings, Yamamoto was masterful. He punched out seven batters while facing the minimum, erasing a third-inning walk by inducing a double play. Second baseman Miguel Rojas helped keep the Cardinals out of the hit column, taking away potential hits from Bryan Torres and Iván Herrera on back-to-back plays in the fourth inning.
Yamamoto's no-hit bid came to an end in the sixth inning, when José Fermín led off the frame with a single. His shutout came to an end two batters later, when Thomas Saggese crushed a first-pitch sinker that cleared the fence in center field.
One inning later, Yamamoto allowed more damage to lead off the seventh. Jordan Walker doubled, and Leo Bernal took a full-count four-seamer out to right-center to bring the Cardinals within one run.
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Following the two high-stress innings, Yamamoto's night was over after throwing seven innings on 93 pitches. The Dodgers led 5-4 on Freddie Freeman's first-inning three-run homer -- his first long ball since July 4 -- and Mookie Betts' two-run shot in the sixth, and manager Dave Roberts turned to de facto closer Tanner Scott in the eighth to try to preserve the slim lead.
But the Cardinals tied the game on an Alec Burleson sacrifice fly, erasing a Dodgers lead that had held since the bottom of the first inning. L.A. threatened by putting Teoscar Hernández on third with two outs in the bottom of the ninth but was unable to cash in, and St. Louis came out on top after striking for three runs off Brock Stewart in the 10th.