Los Angeles Dodgers’ Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitches during the first inning of the team’s baseball game against the New York Yankees, Friday, June 7, 2024, in New York.
14:19 JST, June 8, 2024
NEW YORK (AP) — Teoscar Hernández reached second base, raised both hands, shook and twisted his right leg in a dance move that would make a Broadway choreographer proud.
With the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees scoreless in the 11th inning of a possible World Series preview featuring five Most Valuable Players, he had broken the deadlock with a two-run double.
“It feels like the play-offs today. I like playing in this atmosphere,” Hernández said after the Dodgers’ 2-1 victory on Friday night ended the Yankees’ eight-game winning streak.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched seven scoreless innings with three hits in his Yankee Stadium debut, with his velocity reaching a season high in the best of his twelve Dodgers starts.
Anthony Banda, Blake Treinen, Daniel Hudson, Michael Grove (4-2) and Yohan Ramírez finished as a five-hitter in front of a season-high crowd of 48,048, the fourth sellout of the year for the AL-top Yankees (45-20).
“Feeding the crowd, I think, is what made it special,” said New York captain Aaron Judge, who singled in a run in the 11th. “It was packed tonight and they were on their feet from the very first pitch, all the way to overtime.”
Ramírez, who pitched for his third big league-team this season, got his first save in two years. After Judge’s single, he threw a called third strike past Giancarlo Stanton – whose inning-ending fly ball left the bases loaded in the eighth. Ramírez retired Anthony Rizzo on a foul pop, dropping New York to 1-4 in overtime this year.
“Man, what a game. Wow,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.
Roberts had a glass of bourbon on his desk after the game, courtesy of pitcher Walker Buehler. Roberts said he would skip the booze so as not to slow down on Saturday.
In a sign of the game’s importance, Los Angeles had six team buses to ferry players, staff and family to the Manhattan hotel, instead of the usual two or three.
Los Angeles, which tops the NL West at 34-29, had not played in the Bronx since 2016. Yamamoto, a heralded 25-year-old right-hander, faced the team he rejected to sign a $325 million, 12-year deal with the Dodgers.
“I appreciated their interest in me,” Yamamoto said through an interpreter, “but when I faced him, it was a normal game.”
He allowed two hits and two walks with seven strikeouts and threw 106 pitches on the season. He threw 20 pitches faster than 97.2 mph, which had been his high when he came in, and reached a maximum speed of 90.4 mph.
Yamamoto struck out Jose Trevino to leave runners in the corners in the second, starting a streak of 12 straight outs before drawing a walk from Judge in the sixth. Yamamoto then fanned Stanton with a fastball at the top of the strike zone.
Yamamoto attributed a mechanical adjustment for speed. Roberts thought the ballpark was a factor.
“Yankee Stadium is not like any other ballpark. I’m sure when he was in Japan, he saw Godzilla take at bats at Yankee Stadium, and he pitched at Yankee Stadium,” Roberts said in a reference to former New York Japanese star Hideki Matsui.
On a night plate, referee Todd Tichenor frustrated both teams with a tight strike zone, the game was scoreless in the 11th.
Shohei Ohtani, who was dealing with back and hamstring problems, went 0 for 5 and was repeatedly booed. He is hitting .195 with three home runs and 10 RBIs since May 16, dropping his season average from .364 to .312.
New York’s Cody Poteet allowed two hits and three walks in 4 2/3 scoreless innings in his Yankee Stadium debut.
With Ohtani on second as an automatic runner in the 11th, Ian Hamilton (0-1) walked Freddie Freeman and retired Will Smith on a flyout before Hernández drove an 0-2 slider to the left-center gap. Hernández has 40 RBIs in 77 games against the Yankees. He also made a leaping catch against the left field wall off Anthony Volpe who led off first, and Judge followed with a one-out double.
“If that ball were to drop,” Hernández said, “it would be 1-0.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Dodgers: LHP Clayton Kershaw (shoulder surgery last Nov. 3) threw two innings in a simulated game at Rancho Cucamonga on Friday, reaching a speed of 90 mph, Roberts said. The 36-year-old, a three-time Cy Young Award winner, will throw a simulated three-inning game in five or six days. … RHP Bobby Miller (right shoulder inflammation) allowed two runs – one earned – and four hits for Triple-A Oklahoma City in his third minor league rehab start, throwing 50 of 85 pitches for strikes. He could return to the big league team next week. … 3B Max Muncy (right diagonal strain, which has kept him sidelined since May 15) makes swings without the ball. “It’s still a slow program,” Roberts said.
Yankees: RF Juan Soto, hampered by a sore left forearm, missed his first game of the season for the Yankees. A scan only showed inflammation, and that’s what he is from day to day. … RHP Gerrit Cole (right elbow nerve inflammation) will make a second rehabilitation start for Double-A Somerset on Sunday.
NEXT ONE
LHP Nestor Cortes (3-4, 3.46 ERA) will start Saturday night for the Yankees and RHP Gavin Stone (6-2, 2.90) for the Dodgers. Cortes is 3-1 with a 1.12 ERA at home and 0-3 with a 6.17 ERA on the road.
