HOUSTON -- Yoshinobu Yamamoto made his first career appearance at Daikin Park on Monday, navigating a high-powered Houston Astros offense to provide the Dodgers with much-needed stability in an 8-3 win in the opening game of the series.
Facing an Astros lineup that is second in the American League in OPS (.782), Yamamoto overcame a 33-pitch first inning to finish six frames of work. He exited the night having allowed three runs on five hits, striking out eight and walking only one on 95 pitches.
The outing started with some trouble in the bottom of the first. After giving up a single to Yordan Alvarez and a walk to Isaac Paredes, an RBI single to Jose Altuve and a wild pitch gave Houston an early 2-1 lead. Yamamoto avoided more damage by getting Brice Matthews to fly out, then proceeded to find a steady rhythm.
“I feel like I was kind of pressing a bit early on,” Yamamoto said through his interpreter, Hiro Sonoda. “For me, that’s kind of the hardest part in the game. After that, I searched for the right feel.”
Following that frame, Yamamoto retired nine of the next 10 batters he faced. His command sharpened as the night progressed, highlighted by a nine-pitch fourth inning. The performance was vital for a Dodgers bullpen that has averaged more than four innings of work per game over the last 14 days. Entering the night with a 2.87 ERA, Yamamoto's length was a primary goal for a staff currently managing several rotation injuries.
While Yamamoto provided stability, the Dodgers' offense provided the fireworks, racking up 13 hits to snap a recent cold stretch. Alex Freeland started the surge in the second inning with a solo home run to left-center field, ending a six-game homerless drought for the Dodgers, the longest such streak since 2014.
“It’s a good feeling when we’re firing on all cylinders,” Freeland said. “Everybody can use it as momentum. See one guy have success, see another guy have success and then it’s hard to stop us.”
The run support wasn't lost on Yamamoto, who found his groove as the lead grew.
“Obviously that's very helpful. That's a great support," he said of the breakout.
Yamamoto’s velocity stayed consistent throughout the start, with his four-seam fastball touching 97.7 mph. His splitter was especially effective as a put-away pitch, accounting for half of his eight strikeouts, including a punchout of Carlos Correa in the third inning.
The only other major hit after the first inning came in the bottom of the fifth, when Zach Cole hit a solo home run to right field on a 90.1 mph cutter. Yamamoto responded by striking out Christian Vázquez and Correa to end the inning, then returned for a scoreless sixth to finish his night.
For Kyle Tucker, returning to Houston meant seeing his new team finally click at the plate.
“We had a lot of good at-bats today and got some huge hits when we needed it,” Tucker said. “Just good to see good contact, good at-bats. Guys getting walks and moving the guys over and getting them in was huge.”
Manager Dave Roberts agreed that while the pitching remained steady, the bats coming alive was the focal point of the win.
“Tonight the offense was the story,” Roberts said. “I thought after that first inning, Yoshinobu settled down. It’s just nice to see our offense come out and take a lead, give it back up, and then take a lead again and not give it back up.”
Yamamoto’s debut against the Astros' provided a key data point for the Dodgers' busy May schedule. By resting the relief corps and proving his stuff translates against elite hitters, he gave the team exactly what it needed while the rotation heals.
The Dodgers look to clinch the series Tuesday when Shohei Ohtani takes the mound. While Ohtani has traditionally served as the designated hitter in his starts, Roberts confirmed postgame that Ohtani will focus solely on pitching Tuesday to rest his body.
It marks the second consecutive start, and third total this season, in which the Dodgers have kept Ohtani out of the batting order on the day he pitches, a strategy aimed at preserving the NL Pitcher of the Month during this taxing stretch.