The Los Angeles Dodgers took a commanding 2-0 series lead over the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday at American Family Field behind starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto's dominant complete game in their 5-1 win.
The last complete game in the postseason prior to Yamamoto's was by Justin Verlander in 2017 for the Houston Astros against the New York Yankees in Game 2 of the ALCS. Verlander's and Yamamoto's complete games were exactly eight years apart. It was the first complete game of Yamamoto's MLB career.
It didn't look like Yamamoto was destined to go the distance after the first batter he saw, Brewers right fielder Jackson Chourio, hammered a fastball into the right-field seats to give the Brewers a quick 1-0 lead.
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But the star pitcher settled down and only yielded two more hits the rest of the game. Yamamoto's final line was nine innings, one run on three hits and one walk, while striking out seven Brewers.
"I reset my mind (after Chourio's homer) and then I just focused on executing my own pitches," Yamamoto said through an interpreter.
Yamamoto's gem in Game 2 came one night after two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell allowed one hit over eight shutout innings in a 2-1 victory.
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"We said before this postseason started, our starting pitching was going to be what carried us," said third baseman Max Muncy, who set a Dodgers record by hitting his 14th career postseason homer in the win. "And so far, it's been exactly that."
The Dodgers ended the regular season strong and have continued their strong play into the postseason. After winning nine of their last 11 regular-season games, the Dodgers are 7-1 in the postseason.
"Our entire team is playing the best baseball we've played all year," manager Dave Roberts said. "The focus, the concentration level is at the highest, and we're peaking at the right time."
Game 3 of the NLCS between the Dodgers and Brewers is scheduled for Thursday at 6:08 p.m. ET, the first game of the series that will take place at Dodger Stadium.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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