The Milwaukee Brewers absolutely blasted Yoshinobu Yamamoto out of Game 2 of the National League Championship Series in the third inning. In one of the most shocking moments of the postseason, Yamamoto recorded just eight outs, unable to escape a taxing 36-pitch third inning that ended his day and handed the Brewers a huge advantage.
The Pitches That Changed Everything
Here’s the gut-wrenching sequence: Brice Turang stepped up with one on and one out. Yamamoto had him dead to rights, 0-2. But Turang fought back, extending the at-bat to six pitches. Crucially, catcher Will Smith did not challenge two really close pitches in that sequence. Yamamoto even motioned like he wanted to challenge, or at least wanted Smith to, but nothing happened. Turang ended up working a walk. Smith himself admitted he went back and looked at it, saying, “I don’t know if it clipped it or whatever. It was kind of early in the game. We kind of had him on the ropes where we could just get him out there, and then walk. The walk one was a bummer, but I guess it happens. It’s baseball.” He also added about the pitch to walk Turang, “Yeah, I mean that one was, you know, splitter actually cut that a little bit. I just saw it out and nothing came back.” The replays showed that sixth pitch to Turang looked like it absolutely clipped the strike zone, and if challenged, it looks like the Dodgers would have won. Ouch.
Brewers Pounce, Dodgers Scramble
That missed challenge and the ensuing walk turned the whole game on its head. After Turang’s walk, William Contreras flew out in seven pitches. But then Jake Bauers battled through a monstrous 12-pitch at-bat for another walk, loading the bases. Christian Yelich didn’t waste any time after that, lining a two-RBI single just two pitches later. That pivotal moment knocked Yamamoto out of the game, put the Brewers ahead, and let them start picking apart the Dodgers’ bullpen. While the Dodgers did battle back to take the lead after all that, they were forced to rely on their bullpen for the rest of the game without their ace. It just goes to show you, the Brewers have been grinding away at starting pitchers all season, trying to get into bullpens, and that’s exactly what they did on Monday. This kind of pivotal decision in the postseason just highlights how every single pitch, every single call, can shift the entire series.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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