Los Angeles Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto made the 14th start of his 2025 MLB campaign in the series opener against the San Francisco Giants at home in Dodger Stadium on Friday night. The Dodgers and Giants are neck and neck in the NL West division alongside the San Diego Padres. Currently, it is a three-way battle to determine who remains at the top of the standings after Sunday.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto Posts a Disastrous Outing Against the Giants
While Yamamoto has been consistent with his performance on the mound with a few skirmishes here and there this season, his outing in the series opener against the Giants on Friday proved to be the worst yet in the current campaign. Yamamoto gave up five earned runs on six hits, walked a career-high five batters, and struck out just four in 4.2 IP as the defending champions lost the contest 6-2.
After the game, Yamamoto addressed the media and reflected on his disappointing outing against the Giants on Friday night. The Japanese ace, via his interpreter, said, “I was having a little struggle to hit my spots, where I wanted to locate my balls, and then that let me kind of fall behind and then gave up three walks, and then after that just happened the grand slam hit.”
Next, Yamamoto responded to the media question, which talked about whether he felt frustrated for missing his spots during the game. The Dodgers’ ace, via his interpreter, said, “Today I gave up runs really badly, so I was always trying to make an adjustment as the game moved on, but I was not able to make that kind of an adjustment.”
Yoshinobu Yamamoto (4.2 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 5 BB (career high), 4 K, 102 P) talks with the media after the Dodgers drop the series opener to the Giants, losing 6-2. Get closer to the action with SNLA+, with the MLB app; including pregame and postgame at no extra cost with Spectrum… pic.twitter.com/ETiLcWUung
— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) June 14, 2025
Yamamoto is now 6-5 for the season with a 2.64 ERA, 90 strikeouts, and a 1.09 WHIP through 14 starts this campaign. He is 1-2 in his last five starts and has looked slightly out of rhythm on the mound at recent games. The former three-time Eiji Sawamura Award winner possesses amazing pitching skills to bounce back from his losing slump, which he will attempt to do in his next start against the Padres at Dodger Stadium on June 18.
The Los Angeles Dodgers and the SF Giants Share a Similar Record
Post-Giants series opening victory against the Dodgers on Friday, both ballclubs share the same overall record of 41 wins and 29 losses in the current MLB campaign. They share the top spot in the NL West division with the Padres, just two games behind them.
It is all to play for in the remaining two games of the highly competitive intradivisional series between the Dodgers and the Giants. The defending champions will look to bounce back from their loss on Friday in game 2 on Saturday.