SEOUL, South Korea – Major League Baseball might come back to South Korea some day. But first the drummers who pounded away throughout the Seoul Series finale might be going in for labrum surgery.
The Dodgers and San Diego Padres gave them plenty to pound about Thursday night, putting up runs Gangnam style. Mookie Betts drove in six runs with four hits, including the first home run hit in the Seoul-sucking Gocheok Sky Dome. But the Dodgers’ pitching – and worrisome left-side defense – gave it back just as quickly, allowing the Padres to hold on for a 15-11 victory.
MLB’s first regular-season visit to Korea resulted in a split Seoul Series after seven Dodgers pitchers gave up 17 hits and hit three batters and third baseman Max Muncy committed two of the team’s three errors. Hyped as a potential ‘super team’ when they arrived in Korea, the Dodgers left trailed by a gambling scandal and looking far from a finished product.
But Yoshinobu Yamamoto might have the most difficult time getting his ERA through customs.
The most expensive pitcher in baseball history has 12 years to justify the $325 million contract the Dodgers gave him last winter. His debut Thursday night was not the opening statement the Dodgers wanted.
Yamamoto lasted just one inning, allowing five runs in a career launch that was painful to watch. His first pitch as a major-leauger was ripped for a single by Xander Bogaerts (105.4 mph off the bat). After the right-hander hit Fernando Tatis Jr. with a pitch, Jake Cronenworth tripled into the right-field corner to drive in two runs (102.9 mph off the bat).
Yamamoto walked Manny Machado, drawing a visit from pitching coach Mark Prior. He did retire the next two batters but took 43 pitches to get out of the inning, allowing four hits, walking one batter, hitting another and throwing a wild pitch.
The only thing he didn’t do was give away the Hyundai offered to the first player to hit a home run in this series.
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But Yamamoto wasn’t alone in his struggles. Of the 13 pitchers used by both teams, only Padres left-hander Yuki Matsui and Dodgers right-hander Gus Varland escaped without giving up a run. Each recorded two outs in a show that must have made local fans feel better about the state of pitching in the KBO.
The Dodgers kept coming back, thanks primarily to Betts and Will Smith, who had four hits and two RBI, until Manny Machado put the game away with a three-run home run off J.P. Feyereisen in the ninth.
More to come on this story.