LOS ANGELES -- Yoshinobu Yamamoto ended May on a strong note. In his first start of June, he'll take on an Angels team that handed him the worst start of his big league career last year.
Yamamoto matched his MLB career high with 10 strikeouts last time out, and he carries a 0.93 ERA (two earned runs across 19 1/3 innings) over his past three starts heading into Saturday night's matchup against the Angels at Dodger Stadium.
Last August, Yamamoto made his first Freeway Series start and was tagged for a career-high six earned runs at Angel Stadium. He'll look to fare better this time around, with the hitters who did the most damage against him -- Zach Neto (2-for-2, home run) and Mike Trout (1-for-2, two RBIs) -- expected to be in the Angels' lineup.
Yamamoto is coming off back-to-back starts where he's limited the handful of recurring issues he's had this season: the first inning and the long ball. He didn't surrender a first-inning run or a home run in either outing.
Overall this season, seven of the 22 earned runs Yamamoto has allowed this season have scored in the first inning. He's given up nine homers through 11 starts, compared with 14 through 30 starts last year.
Even though Yamamoto has hit his stride of late, he still does not seem to be fully satisfied with his feel for his stuff. That he's been able to get results despite that is, as manager Dave Roberts put it, "the tell of an ace."
"These guys, the good ones, the really good ones, know how to get Major League hitters out when they don’t have their best stuff," Roberts said last week. "And for the most part, you don’t always have your A-stuff every outing."