Yoshinobu Yamamoto will be aiming for his first career win against the San Francisco Giants when the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers take on their rivals for the first time this season Tuesday night in the opener of a three-game series.
The Giants are expected to counter with their hottest pitcher, right-hander Landen Roupp (3-1, 2.38 ERA), who, like Yamamoto, enters the series in fine form but never has beaten his Tuesday opponent.
While the Giants enjoyed a day off Monday following a 4-5 trip through Baltimore, Cincinnati and Washington, the Dodgers salvaged a 2-2 split at Colorado with a five-home run barrage that produced a 12-3 romp over the Rockies.
Yamamoto (2-1, 2.10) hasn’t allowed more than five hits or two runs in any of his four starts and has walked a total of just three batters all season.
The right-hander was so impressive in his last outing on April 14 — a 2-1 home win over the New York Mets in which he gave up just four hits and one run with seven strikeouts in 7 2/3 innings — that Dodgers manager Dave Roberts all but labeled Yamamoto the best pitcher in the game.
“We don’t have to look any further than October to see what he’s done,” Roberts told reporters, alluding to Yamamoto’s record (7-1, 2.25 ERA) over 10 career postseason games. “The huge velocity of (Tarik) Skubal and (Paul) Skenes and what they’ve done, and rightfully so, but our guy has done it in the biggest of moments.”
Yamamoto will be making his fourth career start at Oracle Park, his most at any road site. He hasn’t gotten a decision in any of his three previous visits despite a 2.29 ERA and 23 strikeouts in 19 2/3 innings.
Overall, the 27-year-old is 0-1 with a 3.03 ERA in five career starts against the Giants.
Roupp accounted for two of the four wins on the Giants’ just-completed trip, limiting the Orioles and Reds to a total of six hits and one run over 12 innings.
His most recent outing — he threw the first six innings of a 3-0 win at Cincinnati on Thursday — helped convince new Giants manager Tony Vitello to push Tyler Mahle back a day in the team rotation, moving Roupp into the No. 3 slot behind Logan Webb and Robbie Ray.
Mahle has been rescheduled to start Wednesday’s rematch, opposed by Shohei Ohtani.
As in his last start, Roupp will be pitching the game following a loss. He acknowledged in Cincinnati the responsibility of getting the ball in that situation.
“I just wanted to go out there and stop the bleeding, and get us back on the right track,” he told reporters after the win. “I just wanted to go out there and just give the team the best chance to win.”
Roupp has not fared well against the Dodgers in four previous duels, including two starts, going 0-2 with a 7.30 ERA.
Interestingly, the 27-year-old has never allowed a hit to Max Muncy or Dalton Rushing in a combined four previous head-to-heads, two of which resulted in strikeouts.
Muncy and Rushing combined for six hits, including two homers apiece, and five RBIs on Tuesday at Colorado.
–Field Level Media
