LOS ANGELES (AP) – Shohei Ohtani he will get his wish to see the Los Angeles Dodgers team Yoshinobu Yamamoto to face San Diego’s Yu Darvish in Game 5 of the National League Series.
Darvish will start for the Padres in the winner-take-all game Friday night at Dodger Stadium, there. fans throwing balls and trash field caused a 12-minute delay in Game 2 last week.
“I’m really excited that maybe he’s going to face Yoshinobu and get a good look at Darvish,” Ohtani said through a translator.
It will be the first Japanese-born player to start in Major League history.
Ohtani was expecting a matchup earlier in the series, while Yoshinobu was slated to start Game 2 against Darvish. But the Dodgers replaced Yoshinobu in Game 1 instead.
Darvish gave up one run and struck out three – all singles – over seven innings in the Padres’ 10-2 victory in Game 2. He frustrated the Dodgers by using -seven different pitches and speed combinations. He and Yamamoto are good friends, while Darvish was Ohtani’s childhood idol.
“Just to be able to go out there and play one day, a playoff game, I think it means a lot,” Darvish said through an interpreter.
Darvish was the last out in the Dodger Stadium for the 2017 World Series elimination game. He started Game 7 for the Dodgers against the Houston Astros. After just 47 innings, the Astros took a five-run lead and went on to win the championship.
“I don’t focus on that moment,” Darvish said. “But maybe it’s the experience I’ve gathered to date that makes me calmer now.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts did not name the starter earlier Thursday, saying only that Yamamoto “will be a part of it.” The team confirmed Yamamoto hours later.
The 26-year-old right-hander has given up a combined 13 runs in three games against the Padres this season. They jumped on Yamamoto for three runs, including a two-run homer by Manny Machado, in the first inning of Game 1.
“It’s just a lack of control. “He never commanded baseball, he wasn’t that good,” said Roberts. But when he gets caught and rips and attacks hitters with his pitch mix, he’s as good as anybody.
Yamamoto is the highest paid pitcher in the majors. He signed a $325 million, 12-year contract with the Dodgers in December, having been hired by Ohtani, who received his record $700 million, 10-year contract with the team earlier that month.
Yamamoto allowed a season-high tying five runs in Game 1, with seven of the 16 batters he faced reaching base. Roberts said afterward that the rookie may have been exaggerating.
“I think we’ve cleaned things up,” Roberts said, “and, thankfully, they’ve done a good job of scouting and things like that. But I think overall, kind of where Yoshinobu is, I feel comfortable.”
To a you must win Game 4The Dodgers used eight relievers to shut out the Padres and win 8-0, setting up a dramatic finish to Friday’s rivalry between the bitter rivals.
Roberts said the Dodgers will have six or seven pitchers available Friday. Jack Flaherty, who put his team in the leadoff hole to start Game 2 before having heated words with Machado, is also in talks.
“Somebody’s going to come up and we’re going to be ready for them,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said.
He wasn’t fazed by the Dodgers’ pride as he compared his team’s approach to the Pro Football Hall of Fame coach who is known as a straight shooter with a single-minded determination to win.
“We’re like Vince Lombardi — power sweep, here we go, Yu Darvish is going to start, here’s our lineup,” Shildt said. “This is who we are and we will compete to fulfill it. When we do, we will shake hands and champagne.”
The injured Miguel Rojas will not be in the Dodgers’ starting lineup Friday, though he will be available to hit. Tommy Edman will start in the interim. Roberts declined to say who will replace Edman at center.
The Dodgers expect an All-Star first baseman Freddie FreemanTheir No. 1 hitter. 3, returning to the lineup after missing Game 4 with a sprained right ankle. He left Game 2 early for the same reason.
Roberts said: “He is feeling much better today with the treatment.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB
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