It couldn’t have started worse. Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s first pitch of NLCS Game 2 was a four-seam fastball at 97 mph Jackson Chouriothe Brewers’ powerful leadoff hitter. Chourio promptly hit it 300 feet into the Dodgers’ bullpen. It landed as a signal to the relievers on the roadside: be alert, you may be needed sooner than you thought.
They wouldn’t be necessary. It’s hard to imagine a better pitching performance than that of Yamamoto’s teammate, Blake Snellwho struck out 10 batters in eight innings the night before. But Yamamoto managed to give him an edge.
Over 111 beautiful pitches, Yamamoto rendered the Brewers’ bats rudderless, holding them to that one run for a complete three-hit game. It was the first in the playoffs in eight years, and it certainly offered one possible solution to the Dodgers’ bullpen woes: What if you just didn’t need those guys?
The Dodgers’ offense, meanwhile, was haunted Freddy Peralta after 5 2/3 innings and three runs allowed, giving Yamamoto all the cushion he needed. They ultimately came away with a 5-1 victory, winning both games in Milwaukee and securing a 2-0 series lead.
As evidenced by Chourio’s tank, the Brewers came out aggressive, swinging early and often. But Yamamoto, to his credit, adjusted beautifully and threw only two first-pitch four-seamers the rest of the game.
The reduced fastball usage was paramount. His splitter and curveball were both more prominent than the four-sieve, which was only used 23%. In addition to seven strikeouts (three of which were searching), the Brewers compiled just a .234 xBA, pounding ball after ball into the ground, unable to stay on any particular speed or movement profile. Yamamoto fired 73% of strikes and lived in the zone on all six of his throws.
Yamamoto retired the last 14 batters he faced, and by the time he built a two-run lead, the game started to feel like a foregone conclusion, making a small lead seem insurmountable in the way only a premium ace can.
That lead was downstream of the game’s most crucial strategic moment: Brewers manager Pat Murphy’s decision to bring Peralta in for the sixth inning. Heading into the sixth, the game looked like something like a pitchers’ duel, with the Brewers trailing by just one run. After Chourio’s home run, the Dodgers countered with two runs in the top of the second inning, a Teoscar Hernández solo homer and a Andy Pages RBI doubles down the right field line.
Peralta never looked particularly sharp. After two innings, he had already thrown 45 pitches, struggling through foul balls and deep counts. Yet, partly thanks to his hellish behavior, partly thanks to a few clever actions by his defense, he had managed to keep most of the points off the board. In the fifth, he escaped a jam and immediately induced a groundball double play Mookie Betts to end the inning. If he had gotten just one out, in all likelihood he would have been taken out of the game. Aaron Ashby warmed up in the bullpen, ready to take on the southpaw Freddie Vrijman. After the double play ended the inning, it was still thought that lefty Ashby would be brought in to start the sixth to deal with Freeman and, third in the inning, Max Muncy.
It was reported on the broadcast that Peralta and Murphy had a chat in the dugout after the end of the fifth. Peralta told Murphy he had one inning left. A different frame would have been a boon in more ways than one: The Brewers used six pitchers in their Game 1 loss, including all five of their favored lever arms. A little length was much needed, and Murphy rolled the dice, leaving Peralta to take on Freeman. Will Smithand Muncy.
It got off to an ideal start; Freeman hit a pop-up on the first pitch he saw, and Smith tapped a groundball to third base. Two quick outs and only one batter retired. Then it started to fall apart. Peralta fell behind Muncy 3-0. To get back into the count, he threw a fastball belt high on the outside edge of the zone. Muncy took the field for a called strike.
The next pitch was also a fastball; the location was almost identical to the previous field. Muncy fouled it off, making the count full. After a contested slider, Peralta delivered another high outside-edge fastball, the third in four pitches. Fool me once, shame on you… fool me twice, shame on you again, I guess… but fool me three times, well, that’s a tank. Muncy hit that stove on a line at 110 miles per hour; it just snuck over the outstretched glove of Sal Frelickclearing the center field wall and giving Los Angeles a 3-1 lead. Muncy’s homer represented the biggest swing in the game’s win expectation, pushing the Dodgers’ chances of winning to 75.5%.
The Brewers never reached base again after Muncy’s home run. Meanwhile, the Dodgers offense bled Milwaukee’s bullpen dry, scoring two more runs to close the gap and allow the Dodgers manager Dave Roberts the confidence to ride Yamamoto all the way to the finish.
The first of those runs came in the seventh, which started with a double off the bat of – who else – Enrique Hernández. The utility man continues to amaze as a presence in October. He went 2-for-3 with a walk in this game, bringing his 2025 postseason OPS to .972. After Pages bunted him to third base, Shohei Ohtaniwho has certainly never appeared this low in a Dodgers game story, snuck a groundball past a withdrawn Andreas Vaughn to score Hernández and make it 4-1.
A final run followed in the eighth Tobias Myerswho lives far below the Brewers’ trust tree. Smith led off with a single; he moved up to second after a walk from Muncy. Teoscar Hernández advanced them both a base; of Tommy Edman up, the infield again let a groundball pass as they came in with a runner on third base.
That would be the conclusion of the meaningful offensive action. As the Dodgers staged another rally in the ninth — they would finish with 11 hits and four walks — the broadcast reported that Roberts would at least let Yamamoto lead off the inning, with Alex shutters warming in case of problems. Vesia would not be necessary.
William Contreras lifted a hanging slider into center field. Christian Jelich tapped a splitter back to Yamamoto. One way; only Vaughn stood in the way of his nine-inning masterpiece. As he had done all day, Yamamoto dropped a curveball out of the sky for the first strike. A splitter scent gave him a 0-2 lead. Vaughn fouled another splitter to stay alive. Not good enough. The right-hander had to end it in style. Here came another splitter, this one running towards Vaughn’s back foot. Clean smell; game over. Yamamoto turned around, clapped a few times and seemed to say “wow,” amazed by his own brilliance.
The series now heads to Los Angeles.
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