Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched exceptionally well on Saturday, stepping out of the bullpen and directly into the intense situation of World Series Game 7.
Yamamoto entered the game with runners on first and second and one out in the ninth inning in a tie game. After hitting the first batter to load the bases, he somehow managed to escape the jam.
He then had a 1-2-3 10th inning and recorded the final three outs of the game during the 11th inning, clinching the victory for the Dodgers and etching his name into history.
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He managed to achieve this level of success despite pitching nine innings in Game 2, warming up in extra innings in Game 3, and pitching six quality innings in Game 6.
After his Game 7 outing, Yamamoto admitted that he was not feeling great about his stuff while he was warming up, but the Japanese pitcher went out there and gave it his best shot regardless.
“When I started in the bullpen before I went in, to be honest, I was not really sure if I could pitch up there to my best ability,” Yamamoto said via his interpreter.
“But as I started getting warmed up, because I started making a little bit of an adjustment, and then I started thinking I can go in and do my job.”
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Yamamoto threw a total of 215 pitches during the World Series, earning him the MVP award and establishing himself as an all-time gutsy pitcher.
Manager Dave Roberts trusted Yamamoto to perform for the team in a tough situation, but even he was amazed at how well the Japanese ace pitched.
“It’s unheard of,” Roberts said.
“And I think that there’s a mind component, there’s a delivery, which is a flawless delivery, and there’s just an unwavering will. I just haven’t seen it. I really haven’t.
“You know, all that combined. And there’s certain players that want moments and there’s certain players that want it for the right reasons. But Yoshi is a guy that I just completely implicitly trust, and he’s made me a pretty dang good manager.”
Now, Yamamoto gets some well-earned time off before ramping up for another season.
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