Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Shohei Ohtani & Roki Sasaki Make MLB History With Scoreless Starts

3 Min Read

The Los Angeles Dodgers have received stellar contributions from their starting rotation over the past month, and it’s resulted in Shohei Ohtani, Roki Sasaki and Yoshinobu Yamamoto again combining to make MLB history.

Prior to Yamamoto facing the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday night, he already was part of a scoreless streak that featured outings from Ohtani and Sasaki as well. They became the first trio of Japanese-born pitchers to have a scoreless start in the same season.

Making it all the more impressive is Yamamoto, Ohtani and Sasaki combined to achieve the feat over a one-week span.

Earlier this season, Ohtani, Sasaki and Yamamoto made MLB history as the first time Japanese pitchers started three games in a row.

Dodgers Japanese pitchers make more history

As for their latest achievement, the three right-handers combined to throw 18.1 scoreless innings in the past week. The streak ended when Yamamoto gave up a run in the first inning on Saturday night.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto

The stretch started with Yamamoto delivering 5.1 scoreless innings against the Philadelphia Phillies on May 31. Despite not providing his usual length, Yamamoto set a season high with 10 strikeouts in the Dodgers’ 9-1 win. The 10 strikeouts also equaled the most strikeouts he’s ever had in a start, which Yamamoto achieved five times last season.

Shohei Ohtani

When Ohtani faced the Arizona Diamondbacks on June 3, he allowed just two hits over six scoreless innings. That was another comfortable win for the Dodgers, which prompted manager Dave Roberts to end Ohtani’s outing at six frames.

Ohtani’s success came despite dealing with a blister on the middle finger of his right hand.

Roki Sasaki

Sasaki easily was the most impressive of the three starts as he turned in the best outing of his career. Sasaki once again dominated the Angels, this time to the tune of seven shutout innings at Dodger Stadium on Friday night.

Sasaki set a career high with 10 strikeouts. His previous career-best mark was eight strikeouts, which Sasaki set in his first start against the Angels this season. Friday’s game also tied the longest of Sasaki’s career, which initially came in Anaheim as well.

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Matthew Moreno is a journalist from Whittier, Calif., who is a credentialed reporter and is currently the Executive Editor of DodgerBlue.com and LakersNation.com. In addition to covering Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angeles Lakers, Matthew has a strong passion for keeping up to date with the sneakerhead culture. It began with Michael Jordan and Air Jordan shoes, and has carried over to Kobe Bryant's signature line with Nike. Matthew previously was the lead editor and digital strategist at Dodgers Nation, and the co-editor and lead writer at Reign of Troy, where he covered USC Trojans Football. Matthew graduated from California State Long Beach University with a major in journalism and minor in communications. Contact: matt@mediumlargela.com
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