Orix Buffaloes pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed five runs in four innings against the Chiba Lotte Marines in the final start of his rookie season on Oct. 9, 2017. He gave up all five runs in the fourth inning, including a three-run home run by Jimmy Paredes.
That was probably the worst regular-season start of Yamamoto’s career until his clunker of an MLB debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday, when he allowed five runs in his first and only inning during a 15-11 loss against the San Diego Padres in South Korea.
Yamamoto put together a stellar career in Japan in the years after that game against the Marines. Dodgers fans will hope he does the same in MLB after an anomalous and off-kilter performance at Gocheok Sky Dome in the finale of the season-opening Seoul Series.