LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Dodgers shelled out $1 billion for Japanese talent in the offseason and it’s paying off in the playoffs.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto outdueled Yu Darvish in a historic postseason matchup of Japanese-born starters, and the Dodgers got home runs from Kiké Hernández and Teoscar Hernández to beat the San Diego Padres 2-0 on Friday and advance to the National League Championship Series.
“It’s pretty sweet,” a smiling Freddie Freeman said.
Yamamoto allowed two hits over five innings for the win, getting pulled after 63 pitches in a decisive Game 5 between heated NL West rivals who were meeting in a Division Series for the third time in five years.
He signed a $325 million, 12-year deal in December, shortly after the Dodgers lured superstar Shohei Ohtani from the Los Angeles Angels with a record $700 million, 10-year contract.
“We’re ready for the next level,” manager Dave Roberts said.
The Dodgers won a decisive Game 5 at home for the first time since taking a 1981 NL Division Series against Houston after a season split into halves following a players’ strike.
“We went through a lot of injuries, a lot of ups and a lot of downs. We fight, we fight and keep going,” star outfielder Mookie Betts said. “All season everybody says the Dodgers are winning the World Series, the Dodgers are winning the World Series. And we get to this series, and all of a sudden we’re the underdog.”
Boasting the majors’ best regular-season record of 98-64, they successfully avoided a third straight NLDS elimination.
“We’d been in a little bit of a DS funk,” said Andrew Friedman, president of baseball operations. “For the guys that had been there, they could feel that after we got down 2-1. The new guys wanted no part of that.”
The Padres’ big hitters went bust with their season on the line. Three-time batting champion Luis Arraez, Fernando Tatis Jr., Jurickson Profar and Manny Machado were 1 for 14 in Game 5 as Los Angeles pitchers retired their last 19 batters.
“Everybody was picking them to win because we have no pitching, we can’t hit with runners in scoring position, this and that,” a soaked Kiké Hernández said. “We’re the ones popping bottles now.”
San Diego’s powerful lineup went scoreless for the final 24 innings of the series, dropping the last two games after taking a 2-1 lead back home.
“I think stunning is appropriate,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said.
Machado added, “It’s a devastating one for sure.”
Yamamoto and Darvish were the first Japanese-born starting pitchers to square off in major league playoff history. The 26-year-old Yamamoto was the fifth rookie to start a winner-take-all game in Dodgers history.
“It was awesome to be able to pitch with him, to share the mound on such a big stage,” Darvish said through an interpreter. “He’s not just a great pitcher, but he is a great human being, too. It was a great night for both of us.”
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