Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave the Dodgers the October answer they needed Tuesday night at Truist Park, working seven innings and allowing just one run as Los Angeles took on Chris Sale and the Braves in Game 3 of the National League Division Series.
Yamamoto wins the ace matchup
Sale had drawn much of the pregame attention after shutting out the Dodgers a little more than a month earlier, but Yamamoto turned the night into his own showcase. In his first postseason outing since he finished last year’s World Series with a Game 7 appearance, the right-hander struck out 10 Braves.
- Yamamoto pitched seven innings and surrendered one run.
- His 10 strikeouts established a new personal postseason high.
- His previous October best was nine strikeouts in Game 2 of last season’s NL Wild Card Series.
- The outing came in a Game 3 that left the losing club one defeat from elimination.
The Braves mounted their best threat in the fifth. They loaded the bases with one out and brought home a run when Drake Baldwin bounced into a groundout to first base. Yamamoto kept the damage to that lone run and otherwise held the Atlanta lineup in check.
Roberts lets his starter work
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts showed his urgency before the first pitch, rearranging his lineup in an effort to handle Sale. Once Yamamoto took the ball, though, Roberts made clear he did not intend to get in the way of his starter’s game.
Roberts said he had complete faith in Yamamoto and planned to let the pitcher have every chance to deliver the kind of outing he had made a habit of producing.
That trust was rewarded with a composed seven-inning performance from Yamamoto, who handled Atlanta’s fifth-inning push without allowing the inning to unravel.
A notable night in Dodgers and Japanese postseason history
Yamamoto became the first Dodgers pitcher to record at least seven innings, 10 strikeouts and no more than one run allowed in a postseason start since Blake Snell did so in Game 1 of the 2025 NL Wild Card Series.
He also joined a short list of Japanese-born pitchers to reach double-digit strikeouts in an October game.
- Shohei Ohtani, in Game 4 of the 2025 NL Championship Series.
- Hiroki Kuroda, in Game 2 of the 2012 American League Championship Series.
- Yamamoto, against Atlanta in Game 3 of this NLDS.
Next on the schedule
The series moves to Game 4 on Wednesday, with first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m. ET and 3 p.m. PT. The club on the losing end of Tuesday’s Game 3 will enter that game facing elimination.
