Yoshinobu Yamamoto stifles Yankees as Dodgers win in extras - ESPN

NEW YORK — The 10th pitch Yoshinobu Yamamoto fired from Yankee Stadium on Friday night traveled 98 mph. It triggered a milestone, marking the fastest pitch Yamamoto had thrown since leaving Japan to join the Los Angeles Dodgers last offseason.

It also set a tone.

Yamamoto, pitching against the team that nearly signed him in free agency, blanked the Juan Soto-less New York Yankees through seven innings and threw harder than ever, comfortably sitting at around 97 mph with a fastball that had been about two ticks slower through his first dozen major league starts. He didn't get the win — the Dodgers didn't break through until the 11th inning, when Teoscar Hernandez's two-run double broke a scoreless tie and led to a 2-1 victory — but he showed something bigger.

«You could just see it,» Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Yamamoto. «He felt it. He knew we needed it, and it brought out the best in him. I can't say enough about his effort tonight.»

The Dodgers, coming off a demoralizing series loss to the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates and struggling offensively for about three weeks, have seen Yamamoto evolve through his first two-plus months in the major leagues.

An ugly debut from South Korea led to a seven-start stretch in which he posted a 1.76 ERA. Along the way, Yamamoto introduced a two-seamer and a cutter as weapons against right-handed hitters. He got hit around near the end of May, giving up 10 runs on 18 hits in 17 innings. But he bounced back with six innings of one-run ball against the Colorado Rockies on the first day of June, then turned in his finest start Friday against a far superior lineup, limiting the Yankees to four baserunners while striking out seven in the opener of this highly anticipated weekend series.