Yoshinobu Yamamoto runs into problems in Dodgers | College News

Dave Roberts downplayed the straightforward narrative on Sunday afternoon.

“No,” he stated when requested if his Dodgers had the New York Yankees’ proverbial quantity, having adopted up their defeat of the Bronx Bombers in final yr’s World Series with two spectacular wins to begin this weekend’s rematch at Dodger Stadium.

“I think we’ve had their number the last two nights,” Roberts stated, “but today’s a different day.”

Was it ever.

Twenty-four hours after a complete annihilation of the Yankees in an 18-2 win Saturday, the Dodgers suffered the type of setback that has so typically plagued them this season, squandering the prospect to construct additional momentum in a 7-3 loss that prevented a collection sweep.

For as full a efficiency as the Dodgers (36-23) put collectively Saturday, they regarded equally out of kinds in a “Sunday Night Baseball” finale, getting a uncommon unhealthy begin from Yoshinobu Yamamoto, errors on protection and basepaths that value them early runs, and just about nothing from a lineup that regarded largely discombobulated against funky left-hander (and former Dodgers swingman) Ryan Yarbrough.

They may need come out of the weekend with a marquee collection win, persevering with to nurse a slim lead in the National League West standings.

But, they invited more scrutiny over their inconsistent begin to the season with a finale flop, dropping to 13-13 over their final 26 video games.

“You got to focus on the positives,” third baseman Max Muncy stated. “We just took two of three from a really, really good team. We’re obviously upset that we didn’t get this one. But we played two really good games. … Just [today] the result wasn’t there.”

Yamamoto had been the one fixed in the Dodgers’ injury-plagued rotation. His 1.97 earned-run average was second in the NL. His 64 innings not only led the group, but had been virtually twice as many as anybody else apart from Dustin May.

Yamamoto also had an spectacular personal observe file against the Yankees (36-22), shutting them out over seven innings in New York final June before delivering 6 ⅓ innings of one-run ball in Game 2 of the World Series.

On Sunday, however, he couldn’t persistently discover the strike zone or execute his trademark splitter. And after scoring just two runs in their earlier 15 innings in this collection, the Yankees finally got here to life at the plate.

“I was not being able to control my pitches,” Yamamoto stated through interpreter Yoshihiro Sonoda. “During the game, I was trying to make an adjustment, but … I could not get it back, my stuff.”

In the first, Trent Grisham singled and Ben Rice walked before Jasson Domínguez dumped a line drive into left, driving in a run when Andy Pages airmailed his throw to home plate.

In the third, a leadoff stroll to Judge was adopted by a two-run homer to Rice — Yamamoto lacking badly with two splitters in the first at-bat before leaving one hanging in the next.

Later in the body, the Yankees scored again after Yamamoto gave up two singles and spiked a splitter for a run-scoring wild pitch.

Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani strikes out against the Yankees in the first inning Sunday.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

And with two outs in the fourth, Roberts pulled Yamamoto, his pitch rely having ballooned to 96 on a day he gave up a season-high in hits (seven) and walked three others. It was the first time this yr that Yamamoto, whose ERA rose to 2.39, had failed to full the fifth.

“He wasn’t great today, wasn’t sharp with any of his pitches,” Roberts stated. “Really uncharacteristic.”

The Dodgers faltered in different methods, as effectively.

After his first-inning throwing error, Pages made a mistake on the bases in the second. Following a one-out double, he was thrown out on an over-aggressive steal of third. That meant that when Tommy Edman homered moments later — his first long ball in 17 video games, breaking him out of a latest funk at the plate — it was only a solo blast, quickly tying the rating before the Yankees answered in the next half-inning.

There can be no counterpunch from Dodgers’ offense, which was lacking Mookie Betts for a third-straight recreation because of a toe fracture (Betts stated before the sport his toe was beginning to really feel higher, and went through pregame actions in hopes of avoiding a stint on the injured record).

Instead, Yarbrough cruised against the group that dealt him away at final yr’s commerce deadline.

Even though he never hit 90 mph with his fastball, he induced a string of smooth contact while hanging out 5 in a six-inning begin. Yarbrough was particularly efficient against the highest of the Dodgers’ order, which went a mixed 0 for 16.

“It’s funky,” catcher Will Smith, who was batting cleanup, stated of Yarbrough’s unorthodox supply. “We gave them a little momentum. They jumped on us early [with] some long innings. So he did a good job attacking us and keeping us off balance.”

The Dodgers did show some life after Yarbrough’s exit, with Pages and Muncy each taking reliever Jonathan Loáisiga deep within the space of three at-bats.

But by then, it was a lot too little, a lot too late — ensuing in the Dodgers’ second straight collection in which they failed to full a sweep, and yet one other momentum-halting loss in a season plagued by a few too many of them.

“I think for us, the takeaway is we won a series and that was the goal coming in,” Roberts stated. “I think at the end of the day, you keep winning series and things will take care of themselves.”