Seoul (AFP) – The Los Angeles Dodgers’ new big-money signing Yoshinobu Yamamoto said he “felt responsible” after enduring a Major League Baseball debut to forget in a 15-11 loss to the San Diego Padres on Thursday.
Yamamoto, who joined the Dodgers from Japan on a 12-year, $325 million deal in December, was taken out of the game after just one inning, having given up five runs at the Gocheok Sky Dome.
The build-up to the game was dominated by the news that the Dodgers had fired Shohei Ohtani’s long-time interpreter after the star’s representatives alleged he had been the victim of “a massive theft” reported to involve millions of dollars.
But Yamamoto’s struggles took centre stage in front of a South Korean crowd enjoying Game 2 of the first MLB regular-season series ever held in the country.
“My control wasn’t good from the start — I have to review today’s game and prepare for the next one as quickly as possible,” said Yamamoto, who was named as Nippon Professional Baseball’s top pitcher for the past three seasons.
“We lost the game, that’s frustrating and I feel responsible.”
Ohtani was again cheered on by fans wearing his Dodgers number 17 jersey, and went 1-for-5 with 1 RBI.
He sat on the bench without his interpreter and close friend Ippei Mizuhara, who is said to have stolen money from him to place bets with a suspected illegal bookmaker.
The Dodgers said earlier in the day that Mizuhara had been fired, and manager Dave Roberts could not confirm his whereabouts.
– Bad to worse –
Yamamoto said his departure had not affected the team’s performance.
“We didn’t have much time to talk and I don’t have much information about it,” he said.
“Everyone was concentrated on the game and played the way we usually do.”
Yamamoto gave up a single to Xander Bogaerts with his very first pitch and things went from bad to worse when he hit Fernando Tatis Jr.in the elbow.
Jake Cronenworth hit a triple to put San Diego two runs ahead, and the gap was four by the time Yamamoto got his first major league strike-out against Jurickson Profar.
The Padres scored another run before Roberts put Yamamoto out of his misery by taking him out of the game before the second inning.
Roberts backed the 25-year-old to “bounce back from this”.
“That’s just not who he is,” said Roberts.
“We’ve got to get back to refining the delivery, tighten up the command and he’ll be fine.
It’s just one of those things.”
The Dodgers’ batters set about trying to reduce the deficit and Ohtani hit a huge shot that fell just short of clearing the wall.
Both teams scored four runs each in the fourth inning, turning up the volume even louder in the packed stands.
Mookie Betts gave them more to cheer when he hit the first home run of the series, a solo shot in the fifth inning.
Betts, who finished 4-for-5 with 6 RBIs, drove in two runs to take the Dodgers within one run but Manny Machado hit a three-run home run in the ninth to send the Padres clear.
“It means a lot to the group,” said San Diego manager Mike Shildt.
“I’m really proud of the group, the way we did it.
It was a complete identity game, a lot of toughness, a lot of fight.”
The Dodgers beat the Padres 5-2 in Game 1 of the season-opening series on Wednesday.
© 2024 AFP
