Yoshinobu Yamamoto came back to American Family Field carrying one of October’s steadiest résumés, but the Brewers found a way to make the Dodgers right-hander work early and finally broke through in a grinding third inning of Game 2 of the National League Championship Series.
Milwaukee turns a one-run deficit into a lead
Los Angeles held a 2-1 advantage when Milwaukee started its third-inning rally with David Hamilton’s sinking line drive from the No. 9 spot. Kyle Tucker then ran down Jackson Chourio’s liner in the right-center gap, but Hamilton took second base on a steal.
The inning tightened from there. Brice Turang, who homered against Tarik Skubal in Game 1, worked a walk after a close cutter was ruled ball four. Yamamoto signaled for Will Smith to request an Automated Ball-Strike challenge, but no challenge came and Turang reached.
- William Contreras followed with a flyout to center field.
- Jake Bauers extended his at-bat through six consecutive foul balls and a PitchCom interruption.
- Bauers eventually drew a walk in a 12-pitch showdown, filling the bases.
- Christian Yelich, back in the lineup after sitting out Game 1, lined a hanging curveball to center for a two-run single.
Yelich’s hit put Milwaukee ahead 3-2 and ended Yamamoto’s night. The 2025 World Series MVP was lifted after the Brewers turned a patient inning into the deciding damage against him.
A rare short October outing for Yamamoto
Yamamoto needed 36 pitches to get through the third, and the inning produced the shortest postseason start of his career. He departed having thrown 75 pitches, with 46 for strikes, through three innings.
It was the most pitches he had used in the opening three frames of a game since June 13, 2025, when he threw 76. It also marked only the fourth MLB outing of his career in which he had reached at least 75 pitches by the end of the third.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Milwaukee’s approach deserved recognition, pointing particularly to the tough plate appearances put together by Contreras and Bauers. Roberts noted that those hitters forced Yamamoto’s pitch count upward before Yelich capitalized on the misplaced breaking ball. With the Brewers in front and the bases loaded, Roberts said the Dodgers needed to limit the inning and brought in Alex Vesia.
Brewers halt a remarkable postseason run
The stumble stood out because Yamamoto entered the night as one of the game’s most reliable postseason starters. The Dodgers had gone 9-1 in his October starts, including a perfect 6-0 record when he pitched on the road.
Among pitchers with 10 or more postseason starts, Yamamoto had ranked near the top of several all-time categories before Monday:
| Category | Yamamoto mark | All-time rank |
|---|---|---|
| ERA | 2.24 | Fifth |
| WHIP | 0.83 | Second |
| Opponent batting average | .175 | Second |
| Opponent slugging percentage | .272 | Second |
Milwaukee also ended Yamamoto’s streak of four straight postseason starts in which he had worked at least six innings while allowing no more than one run. That run had left him two such starts short of Curt Schilling’s mark.
A year earlier, Yamamoto had thrown the first complete game of his career in Game 2 of the NLCS at this same ballpark. This return had a different shape: a long third inning, a handful of disciplined Brewers at-bats, and one curveball Yelich did not let get away.
