Yamamoto flounders in Milwaukee

Yoshinobu Yamamoto finally flopped in a playoff game, and the Los Angeles Dodgers are heading back home with their bid for a third straight championship in serious jeopardy.

Yamamoto lasted just 2-2/3 innings for his shortest postseason start as the Dodgers lost 7-4 to Milwaukee on Monday to fall behind 2-0 in the National League Championship Series (NLCS). The Brewers continually fouled off pitches and drove up Yamamoto’s pitch count before knocking him out of the game.

“I don’t know the exact reason yet,” Yamamoto said through an interpreter. “I need to check the videos and then I can reflect on what happened today.”

Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Los Angeles Dodgers walks across the field before playing the Milwaukee Brewers Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Monday.

Photo: AFP

It was quite a departure for a pitcher who was virtually unhittable last October.

Yamamoto, last year’s World Series MVP, entered 8-1 with a 2.14 ERA in 11 career postseason appearances. In Game 2 of the Dodgers’ NLCS sweep of Milwaukee last season, Yamamoto threw a three-hitter and pitched the first playoff complete game since Houston’s Justin Verlander threw one in 2017.

In three previous postseason starts following Dodgers losses, Yamamoto had gone 3-0 with a 1.23 ERA. The Dodgers were banking on him to deliver another gem to tie the NLCS as they continue their quest to become the first NL team to win three straight World Series.

“I think everybody’s so used to him being a robot that if he didn’t go eight innings, no hits, whatever, it wasn’t Yamamoto,” Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts said. “It shows he’s a human being and it’s playoff baseball.”

Yamamoto was unable to protect two Los Angeles leads in the first three innings.

After the Dodgers scored in the top of the first, Milwaukee tied the game in the bottom half when Yamamoto allowed a one-out double to Brice Turang and William Contreras followed with an RBI single.

The turning point of Yamamoto’s night came in the third. The Brewers trailed 2-1 but had runners on first and second with two outs when Jake Bauers stepped to the plate.

Bauers worked the count full and then fouled off six straight pitches from Yamamoto before capping his 12-pitch plate appearance with a walk that loaded the bases.

“It was a blast, honestly,” Bauers said. “It was a blast. Any time you can get that locked in doing anything, it’s to me one of the most enjoyable experiences I think a human being can have.”

It was not very enjoyable for Yamamoto, particularly after Christian Yelich came up next and lined a two-run single to center. Yelich’s hit put Milwaukee ahead 3-2 and knocked Yamamoto out of the game.

Yamamoto ended up allowing two walks and four hits while striking out only one batter. He threw 75 pitches, including 36 in the third inning.

“He just didn’t have it tonight, which is very rare,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

The Dodgers pulled back ahead 4-3 in the fifth, but they could not maintain the lead and then Los Angeles’ lineup had no answers for Milwaukee’s bullpen. Milwaukee relievers Dustin May, JoJo Romero, Abner Uribe and Aaron Ashby combined to retire Los Angeles’ last 15 batters, continuing the Dodgers’ postseason slump.

Los Angeles got just three hits Monday and is 2 for 26 with runners in scoring position during the playoffs. Four-time MVP Shohei Ohtani hit his last homer way back on Aug. 18.

If the Dodgers do not start hitting, Yamamoto might not get another opportunity to pitch this postseason.

“Our job now is to win several games and give him another chance,” third baseman Max Muncy said, “because I know that next time out he’s going to dominate.”