The two-time defending champion Dodgers headed to Atlanta last week for Game 3 of the NLDS with the series tied, 1-1. What's more, they had to deal with Braves ace lefty Chris Sale. Then again, the Dodgers were probably never really all that worried.
They've been here plenty of times before, but, more importantly, they were sending Yoshinobu Yamamoto to the mound. Yamamoto will be back on the mound Monday night against the Brewers. The Dodgers again are turning to him after a loss.
They trail the Brewers 1-0 in the best-of-seven NLCS. We've all played that game of "if you had to win one game, who would you want pitching it?" My answer has long been prime Pedro Martinez. If you went strictly on career playoff numbers, though, Yamamoto is climbing the list rather quickly.
In that NLDS Game 3, he struck out 10 in seven innings, only giving up one run. "It's probably not fair to say that I expect that out of him because that's a really great performance," Dodgers Game 1 starter Tarik Skubal said, via The Athletic. "But it's not surprising at all.
"I personally wanted him going Game 1 just because he's the guy, and I have a lot of respect for everything he's done here, especially in the postseason." In an era when starters are working short outings in the playoffs more often than not, Yamamoto routinely shuts teams down into the late innings. He threw back-to-back complete games last postseason, first in Game 2 of the NLCS (also against the Brewers) and then in Game 2 of the World Series. He "only" went six innings in Game 6 of the World Series, helping to force a Game 7, then came back in Game 7 to close things down with 2 ⅔ innings in relief, picking up the win in extra innings.
The Dodgers won his postseason debut last week and closed out the Braves the next day. Yamamoto is now 8-1 in 11 playoff appearances. The Dodgers have won 10 of the 11 games in which he's appeared.
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