CHICAGO -- Through eight innings, Yoshinobu Yamamoto was a booted ground ball away from perfection.
The Dodgers' right-hander came three outs away from no-hitting the White Sox in Saturday's 7-1 win at Rate Field, but he surrendered a home run to Tristan Peters to lead off the bottom of the ninth inning. That was the lone blemish in a gem where Yamamoto struck out seven and allowed just two baserunners across 8 1/3 dominant innings.
Yamamoto came close to making some additional history in his dominant start on the South Side. His no-hitter came after a start against the Angels where he set down his final 22 batters in order. He extended the streak to 45 consecutive batters retired, tying Mark Buehrle for the second-longest in MLB history behind Yusmeiro Petit's 46.
The perfect-game bid came to an end with two outs in the eighth inning, when Yamamoto got Chase Meidroth to ground a ball to the left side of the infield. Shortstop Mookie Betts booted the ball, and although second baseman Santiago Espinal found himself in position to attempt a second-chance play, Meidroth became the first White Sox hitter to reach base against Yamamoto.
After Peters broke up the no-hit bid with his ninth-inning long ball, Yamamoto got one final batter: No. 9 hitter Edgar Quero, who flied out to center fielder Andy Pages. That ended Yamamoto's gem after a season-high 109 pitches.
Yamamoto threw two no-hitters in Nippon Professional Baseball, but he is still looking for his first in the Majors. He came close last September in Baltimore, when he lost a no-hit bid after 8 2/3 innings.