Yoshinobu Yamamoto helped stop the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ longest losing streak of the season after an illness caused significant weight loss.
Yamamoto threw 5.2 scoreless innings Saturday against the Arizona Diamondbacks, allowing three hits and three walks while striking out six. He needed 107 pitches, two shy of his season high, before Evan Phillips stranded two inherited runners.
Los Angeles won 2-1 in 10 innings, ending a seven-game slide. Yamamoto received no decision, but his ability to keep Arizona scoreless gave a struggling offense enough time to break through.
The performance carried added weight. Yamamoto lost roughly eight pounds after becoming sick near the end of the Dodgers’ previous trip to New York, according to Dodger Blue. Los Angeles pushed his prior start back one day.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto Stayed Behind to Recover
GettyYoshinobu Yamamoto #18 of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitches during the first inning of a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on August 8, 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Mike Christy/Getty Images)
Even while compromised, Yamamoto allowed three runs on four hits over eight innings against the Boston Red Sox on August 1. It was his fourth outing of at least eight innings this season, tied for the most in the majors.
Yamamoto remained in Los Angeles while the Dodgers visited Chicago, continuing his recovery and between-start work without another time change. He rejoined the club in Arizona before Saturday’s assignment.
MLB.com reported that Yamamoto still lacked some of his usual sharpness. His three walks matched a season high, and he failed to complete six innings for only the third time in 21 starts. Yet he repeatedly avoided damage, including after two runners reached in the sixth.
“I think everybody was feeling the same way,” Yamamoto said through interpreter Yoshihiro Sonoda. “We really wanted to win. I wanted to get the team off on the right foot.”
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The outing lowered Yamamoto’s ERA from 2.76 to 2.65. He now owns an 11-7 record, 0.89 WHIP and 127 strikeouts across 139 1/3 innings, according to his official MLB statistics. Opponents are batting .186 against him.
Those numbers reinforce why the Dodgers committed a record 12-year, $325 million contract to Yamamoto before the 2024 season. He has become their steadiest starter while a star-filled rotation has repeatedly changed around him.
Saturday offered another example. Kyle Tucker’s eighth-inning home run provided the first run, Edwin Diaz surrendered the lead in the ninth, and Shohei Ohtani drove home the winner in the 10th. Yamamoto’s early zeros made all of it possible.
The health concern should not be exaggerated. Yamamoto did not miss a turn, had six days between starts, and was able to throw near his highest pitch count of the season. The Dodgers described the illness as minor, and he threw 107 pitches without leaving because of health concerns.
Still, losing eight pounds during a playoff race is not a routine obstacle. Yamamoto responded with 13.2 innings across two starts, then delivered the scoreless performance Los Angeles needed most.
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