Player of the gameYoshinobu YamamotoLAD5.1ip 4h 0er 10k
In the first two games of the weekend series against the Phillies, manager Dave Roberts did not push his starting pitchers to the limit. But the Dodgers' skipper knew he could rely on his ace, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, to empty the tank on Sunday afternoon. Both Justin Wrobleski (seven innings on Friday) and Roki Sasaki (5 1/3 innings on Saturday) threw fewer than 90 pitches in their starts. Yamamoto needed 94 pitches to complete five innings as the Phillies tried to grind him out in the series finale, but Roberts still sent him out for the beginning of the sixth. As he tends to do, Yamamoto rose to the occasion. He walked his first batter of the sixth inning, but he capped the strong outing with his 10th strikeout of the game, matching his career high. Will Klein stranded the runner left on base to close the book on another strong outing for Yamamoto: 5 1/3 scoreless innings with four hits and two walks allowed as the Dodgers took two of three from the Phillies with Sunday's 9-1 victory. "He could have probably found a way to get through that sixth inning, but I just felt, to what cost?" Roberts said. "These guys, the good ones, the really good ones, know how to get Major League hitters out when they don’t have their best stuff, and for the most part, you don’t always have your A-stuff every outing." Yamamoto threw 104 pitches, the fourth time his pitch count has exceeded the century mark this season. No other Dodger has thrown more than 100 pitches more than twice.
