The San Diego Padres clobbered Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto for three runs in the first inning; afterward, manager Dave Roberts explained why.
The Los Angeles Dodgers made a surprising last-minute swap of their Game 1 and Game 2 starting pitchers on Thursday. President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said rookie Yoshinobu Yamamoto, not veteran Jack Flaherty, would get the ball in the National League Division Series opener against the San Diego Padres on Saturday.
When the Padres jumped on Yamamoto for a walk and three hits — including a three-run Manny Machado homer — it was easy to jump to the lazy conclusion: the moment got the better of the 26-year-old right-hander.
Not so, said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.
„There were some things with his glove, giving away his pitches“, Roberts said of Yamamoto. „We’ll clean that up internally. They had a lot of good swings against him in three innings.
