Los Angeles right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto kept the Chicago White Sox hitless through eight innings on Saturday, with the Dodgers leading 7-0 as his no-hitter carried into the ninth.
CHICAGO — The Dodgers’ dugout seemed to hold its breath as Yoshinobu Yamamoto made it through the eighth inning still missing only one thing: a hit.
The Los Angeles right-hander had a no-hitter after eight innings against the Chicago White Sox on Saturday. retiring his first 23 batters. The only stumble came in the eighth when Chase Meidroth reached on a two-out error on shortstop Mookie Betts. Jacob Gonzalez then bounced to second, ending the inning.
Yamamoto finished the night so far with seven strikeouts and 103 pitches, 70 for strikes. The Dodgers entered the ninth leading 7-0.
Meidroth had the best chance for a hit earlier than that. In the fifth, he had a liner hook just foul before he struck out swinging for the final out of the inning.
There was also a brief pause before the bottom of the sixth while the grounds crew worked on the area around the pitching rubber on the mound. When play resumed, Yamamoto didn’t lose the feel. He struck out Gonzalez on a full-count cutter. then Tristan Peters bounced to first. and Edgar Quero fouled out to left.
The Dodgers kept pressing, too. Miguel Vargas used the ABS challenge system to overturn a called strike three before lining to left for the second out of the seventh. Colson Montgomery followed with a line drive to first baseman Freddie Freeman on a 3-2 pitch in the eighth.
Even Yamamoto’s pitch count hints at how close this is to history. The 27-year-old has thrown 107 pitches in a season-high outing at San Diego on May 18. His career high is 113 against Cincinnati during last year’s playoffs.
Yamamoto is in his third season with Los Angeles. He was the World Series MVP last year, helping the Dodgers win their second consecutive championship. Coming into Saturday’s start, he was part of a sharp stretch for the NL West leaders, going 3-1 with a 0.99 ERA in his last four starts.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto Dodgers White Sox no-hitter MLB Mookie Betts Freddie Freeman World Series MVP