LOS ANGELES — As manager Dave Roberts has worked to establish his trust tree of arms this year, the Dodgers’ starting pitchers have climbed the highest. Chief among them is Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who ascended to the role of staff ace in a dominant sophomore season.
With a chance to close out the NL Wild Card Series and send the Reds packing with a win on Wednesday night, Roberts could have chosen to manage his pitching staff aggressively. But he figured that the Dodgers’ chances of winning were as high as could be as long as Yamamoto was on the mound.
As he has all season long, Yamamoto delivered. He pulled off an impressive escape act in the sixth inning to get out of a bases-loaded, no-outs jam, then got the first two outs of the seventh and departed to a roaring ovation after throwing an MLB career-high 113 pitches.
One night after getting seven strong innings from Blake Snell, the Dodgers rode yet another dominant night of starting pitching to an 8-4 win, advancing past the Wild Card Series and eliminating the Reds.
After sweeping their first Wild Card Series since the best-of-three format was adopted in 2022, the reigning World Series champions will enter the next stage of their title defense: the NL Division Series against the Phillies, which begins on Saturday at Citizens Bank Park.
Source link
