Yoshinobu Yamamoto struck out a postseason career-high 10 batters over seven innings Tuesday night, leading the Dodgers to a 3-1 win over the Braves in Game 3 of the NLDS at Truist Park. The win puts Los Angeles one victory away from a return trip to the NLCS as the team pursues the first three-peat as World Series champions in National League history.
Yamamoto allowed just one run and one walk in the outing, his latest in a string of dominant postseason starts. With the result, he became the first pitcher in MLB history to earn a win in five consecutive postseason appearances without allowing more than one run or one walk in any of them. All five of those wins came on the road.
The Braves’ only run came in the fifth inning, when they loaded the bases and scored on a groundout by Drake Baldwin. Yamamoto shut the door after that, finishing the seventh inning having largely neutralized Atlanta’s offense all night. He faced Braves ace Chris Sale as his counterpart in the matchup.
According to the MLB broadcast, Yamamoto is now 34-0 in his career, including the postseason, in games where his team has provided him at least three runs of support while he is on the mound.
The Dodgers have now won 10 of Yamamoto’s 11 career postseason appearances. The lone loss came last season in Game 3 of the NLDS at Dodger Stadium against the Philadelphia Phillies. Yamamoto was also a standout performer for Los Angeles during last season’s World Series run.
