Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto was dominant on Saturday, June 13th, pitching 7.2 perfect innings and eight no-hit innings as well.
Yamamoto has been trending upward on the mound, and after Saturday, it is safe to say that he is very close to his best, looking like his 2025 postseason self.
The right-hander ended the night with 8.1 innings under his belt, allowing one hit, a home run for his only earned run, and notching seven strikeouts.
He only pitched 109 pitches, meaning that he should not be compromised for his next start with an absurd pitch count.
Out of his pitches, 74 were strikes, showing his ability to command the ball. Since he does not reach those crazy speeds or have outlier movement on his pitches, Yamamoto relies on his command and mix to pitch at an elite level.
Both of those aspects of his game were totally in tune on Saturday, showing just how locked-in he can be as a pitcher.
How did Yamamoto lose his perfect game and no-hitter?
Yamamoto was perfect through seven full innings and battled to get two outs in the eighth inning. On his third batter, he generated a soft grounder that looked like another routine out until Mookie Betts failed to field it, leading to an error on the play.
His perfect game was gone, but the no-hitter was intact after eight full innings.
However, on the second pitch of the ninth inning, he gave up a home run, his first hit of the game, which cost him his no-hitter.
Manager Dave Roberts kept Yamamoto in the game to get one more out before Alex Vesia came in and got the last two outs.
His ERA dropped to 2.52 after his start, and with the dominant outing, Yamamoto enters the Cy Young conversation, and he should be a player in the race as long as he maintains this level.
For the rest of the MLB, it was a warning that Yamamoto is back to his best.
