JAPANESE PRECISION: Yamamoto’s pitching masterclass powers Dodgers

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched seven superb innings Tuesday to lift the Los Angeles Dodgers within one victory of advancing in the Major League Baseball (MLB) playoffs while San Diego avoided being swept by Milwaukee.

Enrique Hernandez belted a two-run homer and Freddie Freeman smashed a solo homer in the fourth inning to power the Dodgers’ 3-1 triumph in Atlanta, putting Los Angeles ahead 2-1 in the best-of-five National League (NL) division series.

Yamamoto, a 28-year-old Japanese right-hander, struck out 10 to match his MLB career high while surrendering only one run on four hits over seven innings in a masterful performance.

“I was feeling really good. I was able to control my pitches,” said Yamamoto through a translator. “That’s why I got the swings and misses.”

“My fastball was coming out of my hand pretty good so naturally I ended up relying on it.”

The Dodgers, who can advance to the NL Championship Series with a victory in Atlanta on Wednesday, seek a third consecutive World Series crown, something no NL club has ever achieved.

San Diego’s Jake Cronenworth, who had been 1-for-13 in the playoffs, hit the go-ahead homer and the Padres avoided a playoff exit with a 4-3 home victory over Milwaukee.

Pitcher Michael King got the last six outs and the Padres pulled within 2-1 of the Brewers in the division series with game four to come on Wednesday in San Diego.

“It was win or go home, backs against the wall,” Padres slugger Manny Machado said. “We had nothing to lose but go out there and play our baseball. This group of guys stepped up like they have all year.”

“We’re going to keep fighting until the end. These guys in here got a lot of fight left in them.”

The Dodgers’ Yamamoto, last year’s World Series Most Valuable Player, improved to 8-1 in his MLB playoff career.

“He can pinpoint five or six different pitches. It’s just incredible to see how he pitches and sets up hitters,” Freeman said of Yamamoto. “He kind of just leaves you speechless.”

Atlanta ace Chris Sale started against Yamamoto. It was only the third game in MLB playoff history, the first since 1938, with rival starters who both had closed out a World Series-clinching contest.

Sale, a 37-year-old left-hander who shut out the Dodgers in August, struck out seven while allowing three runs on seven hits over five innings.

“We didn’t score a lot of runs against him but getting him out after five was huge for us,” Freeman said of Sale.

With Hernandez and Freeman producing at the plate, the Dodgers scored their first 10 runs of the playoffs off homers, the longest such streak to start a post-season in MLB history.