Los Angeles Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto delivered one of the most awe-inspiring performances in MLB postseason history, and did so on the grandest stage possible.
In World Series Game 6, Yamamoto did his part to ensure that there would actually be a Game 7, tossing 96 pitches and allowing just one earned run while striking out six in as many innings.
The consensus was that Yamamoto — who pitched a complete game to secure Game 2 of the World Series (his second consecutive complete game of the postseason) — was done for the season after Game 6. Even manager Dave Roberts said so ahead of Game 7.
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Yamamoto’s longtime personal trainer Osamu Yada, however, had an idea. Have the ace warm up in the bullpen during Game 7 to gain a psychological advantage over the Blue Jays.
“That’s how I got tricked,” Yamamoto said in Japanese with a laugh.
Even if Yamamoto started warming up as a diversion, he ended up being needed in perhaps the highest-leverage situation a pitcher could imagine: one out and two on in the bottom of the ninth inning with the season on the line.
After all, the ace was already warming up.
“I didn’t think I would pitch,” Yamamoto said. “But I felt good when I practiced, and the next thing I knew, I was on the mound in the game.”
The right arm of Yamamoto was responsible for 526 pitches throughout the postseason, and yielded a microscopic 1.45 ERA through it all.
In the World Series alone, Yamamoto hurled 17.2 innings of work, 15 strikeouts, and just two walks. Getting the final eight outs of the Fall Classic solidified an already impressive resume that resulted in him being named World Series MVP.
With runners on the corners in the bottom of the 11th, Yamamoto threw his final pitch of the season, one that generated the series-ending double play and created a relief unlike any other.
“I felt a joy I never felt before,” Yamamoto said.
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