ATLANTA -- In hopes of avoiding a three-game sweep, the Dodgers handed the ball to Yoshinobu Yamamoto on Thursday night for a matchup against Braves left-hander Chris Sale.
Yamamoto delivered 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball with eight strikeouts to keep his team within striking distance in a tight pitchers’ duel in a 1-0 loss at Truist Park. Just as important, his deep outing provided crucial length to aid a Dodgers bullpen that was forced to use five relievers the previous night, when Roki Sasaki exited after 3 1/3 innings due to a blister.
Yamamoto’s start began with an early strike from the Braves. On his first pitch, Yamamoto left an 89.2 mph splitter up and Drake Baldwin hit it over the right-field wall for a leadoff home run. It was just the second leadoff homer Yamamoto has allowed this season, after he allowed just one each in both the 2024 and '25 regular seasons.
"I know [it] was going to be a kind of neck-and-neck game ... and [Sale's] a great pitcher," Yamamoto said through interpreter Hiro Sonoda. "So I have to focus on my execution. However, the first pitch, it kind of got away from me."
Yamamoto settled in quickly after the blast, answering the early homer with five consecutive scoreless frames while relying on a sharp splitter and elevated fastballs. In the third inning, he navigated his only jam of the night, striking out Baldwin and getting Ozzie Albies to pop out to strand Ha-Seong Kim in scoring position. Yamamoto yielded four hits over 105 pitches before turning the game over to the bullpen in the seventh.
"I think all of us know from the start, we like where we're at when Yoshi's on the mound," catcher Ben Rortvedt said. "Kudos to Yoshi to be able to dig in there, rebound, and give us a fighting chance the whole game."
Despite Yamamoto’s performance, the Dodgers couldn't solve Sale, who struck out 11 batters in a five-hit shutout. While dropping three straight in Atlanta is a tough way to start a six-game road trip, the Dodgers are framing the sweep as a bump in the road rather than a defining moment for their season.
"This isn't the first time we've been through a situation like this and I'm pretty sure it won't be the last, so it's just gotta weather the storm and all we can really do is keep playing," Mookie Betts said. "I remember last year, we got swept by a few different teams. We still were able to win the World Series, so the game will tell who wins."
Manager Dave Roberts echoed that perspective, pointing to the relentless nature of the August schedule -- emphasizing that navigating sudden momentum shifts comes down to mindset rather than frustration.
"The game tests you. I think August is that third leg of a mile and it's the hardest leg," he said. "You win six in a row, you feel like you've got some traction, and then you get smacked in the face and you lose three. But I do think our guys are resilient and we didn't lay down. We just got to persevere."
Still, the on-field reality of the series was not lost on Roberts, who pointed out that playing from behind for almost the entire three-game stretch created a razor-thin margin for error.
"We just never took a lead and it seemed like we were always chasing," he said. "Your margins are much thinner, smaller, and when you don't capitalize on opportunities, you come up on the short end. But they're a good ballclub ... and we'll look forward to seeing them in October."
But before any potential postseason rematch, the Dodgers have to immediately turn the page as they travel to Detroit, where newly acquired left-hander Tarik Skubal will face his former team for the first time in Friday’s series opener at Comerica Park.
"We got the Tigers who are in their last fight to the end, and you got a team that we don't know very well," Roberts said. "But I expect to just come out and follow Tarik's fire, which he will have tomorrow night, and [we] feed off of that. It's all facets of the game. We got to catch it. We got to pitch it. We got to take good at-bats. And then see what happens."