The Los Angeles defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 5-1 in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series, taking an overwhelming 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
More news: trying to figure out why Aki Sasaki’s ball speed dropped in Game 1 of the NLCS
Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched a complete game, and Los Angeles’ offense did more than enough to bring the two wins away from qualifying for their second consecutive World Series.
NLCS Game 2 Recap
The Brewers started Game 2 with a bang. Freddy Peralta earned a shutout win in the top of the first inning, and then Jackson Chorio smashed the first pitch from Yamamoto into the right field seats, giving Milwaukee an instant 1-0 lead.
The quickly responded in the top of the second inning when Teoscar Hernandez hit a breaking ball from a full count into the left field seats to tie the game at one run. Two batters later, Quique Hernandez hit a single and Andy Pages hit an RBI double.
After that, both pitchers calmed down and allowed no runs until the fifth inning.
The Brewers elected to bring Peralta back in the sixth inning, and Peralta retired the first two batters before Max Muncy stepped to the plate. Muncy fouled off the sixth pitch of his at-bat from a full count and sent the seventh pitch into center field, giving the a solid score and a 3-1 lead.
With this home run, he became the ‘ all-time postseason home run leader with 14.
The then struck back in the top of the seventh inning with a double by Quique Hernandez and a sacrifice hit by Pages to third base. As a result, Shohei Ohtani, who had been in a slump with one hit in 23 at-bats, appeared and hit an RBI, increasing the lead to 4-1.
Yamamoto returned in the seventh and maintained his dominance, pitching 1-2-3 innings.
The ‘ offense then scored again in the top of the 8th inning. Tommy Edman hit an RBI single, but LA loaded the bases with Page’s flyout and Ohtani’s strikeout.
Yamamoto returned in the eighth inning and pitched another 1-2-3 innings. After that, the had another chance to score another point with no outs and the bases loaded, but they were unable to score.
Yamamoto returned in the 9th inning and pitched another 1-2-3 innings for an historic complete game victory.
When was the last time a pitcher pitched a complete game in the postseason?
Yoshinobu Yamamoto became the first pitcher to pitch a complete game in the postseason since Jose Lima in the 2004 NLDS.
Photo credit: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images
Have you downloaded the new Nation app yet? Click here for Apple users and Click here for Android users It’s part of a redesigned app that gives fans everything they need in one placee. Don’t miss it Live GameCast with play-by-play, news and analysis, Nation podcasts and videos, all the stats you need, and more.