Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto had scaled the mountain often in Japan, but reaching 100 pitches on Monday for the first time in MLB signaled another step forward.
Kevin Newman of the Arizona Diamondbacks bashed that 100th pitch, a slider, up the middle for a run-scoring single to end Yamamoto’s outing. It was not a picture-perfect ending to the feat, but it was also not enough to spoil the night, a 6-4 Dodgers victory.
The performance — two runs, eight strikeouts and one walk in 6⅓ innings — represented what has become his new normal. After a disastrous debut in Seoul in which he allowed five runs in one inning, and an uneasy first few starts on U.S. soil, Yamamoto has reset expectations.