Yoshinobu Yamamoto etches himself into World Series lore with gutsy performance in Game 7

By Kyle Feldscher, CNN

(CNN) — Yoshinobu Yamamoto signed a contract ahead of the 2024 season worth $325 million over 12 years.

He had never thrown a pitch in Major League Baseball. But the Los Angeles Dodgers had enough money to take that kind of risk, making the bet that such an insane amount of money will eventually be worth it.

From October 31 to the early hours of November 2, Yamamoto didn’t just prove to be worth that incredible contract. He proved to be priceless.

The Los Angeles Dodgers began play on Friday with their backs against the wall, facing a roaring Rogers Centre crowd as the Toronto Blue Jays were one win away from their first title in 32 years. They had just lost two straight games at home in Chavez Ravine and it seemed like time was about to run out on their dynasty claim

Enter Yamamoto.

He shutdown the Blue Jays again on Friday, going six innings and allowing five hits and just one run while striking out six. It was his second victory of the series.

But that achievement paled in comparison to what he did in Game 7.

Pitching on roughly 24 hours of rest, Yamamoto entered the game in the most intense of situations. The Blue Jays had two men on base, needing just one run to win the championship. On his second pitch, he hit Alejandro Kirk and loaded the bases. There was no room for error.

He forced a ground ball to Miguel Rojas, the man who tied the game with a home run in the top of the ninth, who fired home and got Isiah Kiner-Falefa by an inch. Facing Ernie Clement, who tied the postseason record for most hits in a single playoffs, he forced a popout and ended the threat.

In the 10th, he put the Blue Jays down in order. In the 11th, he allowed a double to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and a walk to Addison Barger, putting runners on first and third with one out. With one last nasty splitter, he shattered Alejandro Kirk’s bat and forced a game ending double play.

It was his third win of the World Series. It was baseball heroics. It might change the course of his career – starting pitchers are not meant to pitch on such little rest in such high-leverage situations. But it was the stuff legends are made of and no Dodgers fan will ever forget it.

“He was the MVP of this series. That was incredible,” catcher Will Smith said. “I talked to him yesterday and was like ‘Hey, if you can give one, we can win.’ He gave us three. That was special. He will have a few months off, I know he’s going to need it. I’m just happy for him.”

His manager, Dave Roberts, put it more succinctly.

“Yamamoto’s the GOAT!” he yelled repeatedly on the Fox broadcast, using the abbreviation for Greatest of All Time.

That might be a stretch to say at this point in the Japanese star’s career, but it’s undisputed that his World Series will go down as one of the greatest in baseball history. Winning three games in a single World Series hasn’t been done since Randy Johnson did it in 2001. And he almost got in a fourth game – he was warming up in the 18th inning of Game 3 when Freddie Freeman went deep to give the Dodgers the win, just two days after he pitched a complete game.

He’s now in the same conversation as pitchers such as Bob Gibson, Christy Mathewson and Mickey Lolich. It’s telling that only six pitchers have accomplished the feat since World War II.

The kind of toughness and grit that it takes to do what Yamamoto did on Saturday – and early Sunday – can’t be overstated.

Starting pitchers are creatures of habit. They start their game and then spend the next four days recovering, resting and following a dedicated routine that gets them ready to pitch on the fifth day. They repeat that cycle through the season, over and over from March until October.

And when they pitch, it’s a more strategic task than what relievers often go through. Starting pitchers have to face the same batters two or three times, forming a game plan to keep hitters guessing and then executing it. Reliever often come into a game aiming to overpower hitters with their stuff, either velocity or wicked movement, and use full effort on most pitches.

Starters don’t always make good relievers, but somehow when the games get to be the most important, managers always put their top guys on the mound whether they want to be there or not.

Yamamoto most certainly wanted the ball.

“I was not sure if I could pitch tonight until I went to the bullpen, but I’m glad I was able to,” Yamamoto said through an interpreter when asked about his superhuman effort pitching on back-to-back nights.

He went two-and-two-thirds innings, allowing one hit and striking out one batter. He lowered his ERA for the postseason to a paltry 1.45 and held opposing hitters to a .143 batting average in five starts and one relief appearance.

For all the ink spilled about his teammate Shohei Ohtani’s two-way prowess and the two incredible games that he had in the NLCS and Game 3 of the World Series, Yamamoto’s performance is arguably more connected to baseball’s glorious past.

A complete game victory in Game 2, followed by volunteering for relief duty two days later. Then another six-inning performance, followed by two-plus innings of clutch relief pitching less than a day later.

It’s the kind of stuff October legends are made of.

Yamamoto, as is his wont, approached that rarefied air with humility.

“I did everything I was supposed to do, and I’m so happy that I was able to win this with these teammates,” Yamamoto said through his interpreter.

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