Yoshinobu Yamamoto Pitches Complete Game, Wows Fans as Dodgers Beat Brewers in NLCS G2

The Los Angeles Dodgers are two wins away from back-to-back trips to the World Series thanks to a brilliant performance from Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

Los Angeles seized full control of the National League Championship Series with a 5-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers in Tuesday’s Game 2 at American Family Field. The reigning champions are now up 2-0 after winning the first two on the road.

After Blake Snell was nearly unhittable in Game 1, Yamamoto continued the trend for Dodgers starters by allowing just one run and three hits while striking out seven in a complete game. Things seemed precarious when he gave up a home run to the first batter he faced, but he flipped the switch and dominated the rest of the way.

Throw in home runs from Teoscar Hernández and Max Muncy, as well as a late RBI from Shohei Ohtani, and there was little doubt about the outcome.

Social media had plenty of reaction to Yamamoto’s outing:

While Tuesday’s game wasn’t technically a must-win for the Brewers, it certainly felt like it after they dropped Game 1. The last thing they wanted to do was lose each of the first two contests at home and dig themselves a massive hole heading to Los Angeles.

So they handed the ball to their ace in Freddy Peralta, and he got immediate run support when Jackson Chourio launched a solo homer as the first batter to face Yamamoto.

The long ball fired up the crowd in the early going, but the Dodgers quickly responded with two runs in the top of the second. Hernández tied it up with a solo homer before Andy Pages gave the visitors the lead for good with an RBI double that scored Enrique Hernández.

Peralta settled in from there, but Los Angeles drove him out of the game when Muncy went deep with a solo home run in the sixth to extend the lead to 3-1. It was just a two-run lead, but it felt like more than that given how effective Yamamoto was after the initial mistake to Chourio.

Milwaukee didn’t advance a single runner past first base against the right-hander after the first home run. He got stronger as the game progressed with 1-2-3 frames in the sixth, seventh and eighth, and it was that type of efficiency that allowed him to work so deep into the ballgame.

As if dealing with Yamamoto wasn’t troubling enough for Milwaukee, Ohtani snapped out of a slump with an RBI single in the seventh to give the Dodgers some insurance. It was a welcome sign for a lineup that is so dependent on the three-time MVP to deliver in the biggest moments, and that is exactly what he did.

By the time Tommy Edman extended the lead with an RBI single in the eighth, the game was all but over even with a questionable Dodgers bullpen that almost blew Snell’s gem in Game 1.

Perhaps that Game 1 was still in manager Dave Roberts’ mind, as he kept Yamamoto in until the final out to give Los Angeles a commanding 2-0 lead before the series shifts to Dodger Stadium for Thursday’s Game 3.

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