LOS ANGELES -- By and large, the Dodgers know what to expect whenever Yoshinobu Yamamoto takes the mound. The same has not been true for Edwin Díaz in his first year in L.A. But on Friday night, both hurlers rose to the occasion.
Yamamoto struck out nine across six innings of one-run ball in his latest strong start against the Brewers, and Díaz battled his command to close out a 3-1 victory that evened the four-game set at Dodger Stadium. The win moved L.A. (74-49) one game back of Milwaukee (75-48) for the best record in the National League.
"It was a tough one," Díaz said. "But at the end of the day, I made my pitches, got the three outs, got the W. So that's the most important thing."
It was mostly smooth sailing for Yamamoto, who held the Crew to one run on a Joey Ortiz sacrifice fly in the fifth inning. But the Brewers drove up Yamamoto's pitch count early, forcing him to throw 38 pitches through two innings. The right-hander grew more efficient as his outing went on and gave his team six strong innings on 97 pitches.
"I was trying to be a little bit too fine," Yamamoto said through interpreter Yoshihiro Sonoda. "So after that inning, I kind of organized my mind, reset and kept going."
The Dodgers' bats did just enough, with Mookie Betts hitting an RBI single in the first inning and Andy Pages and Tommy Edman slugging solo homers. Given Yamamoto's track record of handling the Brewers, it was all the offense L.A. needed.
Yamamoto delivered one of his most iconic postseason performances against the Brewers in last year's NL Championship Series, going the distance for the first time as a Major Leaguer in Game 2 at American Family Field. In his return to Milwaukee on May 24, he tossed seven innings of one-run ball to help the Dodgers take two of three that series.
The quality start from Yamamoto on Friday brought the Dodgers one win away from clinching the season series against the Brewers, which could have implications down the road if tiebreakers are needed to determine postseason seeding. After his night was over, Evan Phillips, Tanner Scott and Díaz finished the job. Díaz had been charged with the loss in Thursday's series opener, his third blown save in his last four outings.
"Given how things have gone, certainly how last night went," manager Dave Roberts said, "to get him back in there hopefully to throw up a zero and come away with a save -- you just don’t know how the game’s going to play out."
Roberts made clear that he would stick with Díaz as the closer through the ups and downs of his return from surgery to remove loose bodies from his right elbow. Sure enough, the trumpets sounded to herald the ninth inning.
Díaz's outing got off to an inauspicious start when he hit Andrew Vaughn with a full-count fastball to open the frame. After that, first baseman Kiké Hernández went out to the mound to check in on his closer.
"He told me, ‘You're the best pitcher in the world. We’ve got you, we’ve got your back. Make pitches, go slowly,'" Díaz recalled. "He's a veteran player. He knows a lot about the game. And just listened to him and tried to do my job."
Although Díaz continued to labor, issuing a pair of walks to load the bases with two outs, he got out of the inning without allowing a run.
"It wasn’t pretty," Roberts said. "I watched the inning, too. But he found a way to make a pitch when he needed to.”
After pitching in back-to-back games, Díaz will be unavailable for the next day or two. That will allow him to work on some mechanical changes that he and the pitching coaches had identified before Friday's game. The main adjustment he made after Thursday was fixing his posture, which was affecting his command.
It's difficult to balance working through delivery issues while serving in a key role for the bullpen, but Díaz knows he needs to find a way to do both. Friday's outing was a step in the right direction to build the consistency he needs to reliably lock down the ninth inning.
"I've been having one good one, one bad one," Díaz said. "So today, that is a new start. I’ve got to set my mind to keep having good outings in a row."