Yamamoto flashes 'elite' stuff but Dodgers can't solve Skenes

LOS ANGELES -- For the second start in a row, Yoshinobu Yamamoto found himself at the center of a must-see pitching matchup made for the big screen. But this time around, the Dodgers' right-hander was bested by his counterpart, the Pirates' Paul Skenes.

One start after tossing seven scoreless innings to outduel the Rangers' Jacob deGrom, Yamamoto gave up three runs (one earned) across five innings in Friday night's 3-0 loss at Dodger Stadium. On the other side, Skenes put together a dominant performance in his native Southern California with 6 1/3 scoreless frames.

It marked the second time the Dodgers have been shut out this season, as well as the second time the team has dropped three games in a row. Since opening its title defense undefeated through eight games, L.A. has gone 8-10.

Skenes was dominant. But the Dodgers' offense has also been inconsistent in the young season.

"Not to take any credit away from Skenes, because he still was very good," manager Dave Roberts said. "I think that it's hard to hit guys that good when you're chasing the hitting zone vs. locking in on your own area. I thought tonight, as well as days preceding, we just are not as disciplined as we need to be in certain areas of the hitting zone."

Anticipation was high for Yamamoto and Skenes to toe the rubber opposite one another, as they have been two of the best starters in the big leagues through the first month of the season. Both are in their second Major League season, although they're in very different stages of their careers at large: Yamamoto signed a nine-figure contract with the Dodgers before throwing a pitch in MLB, and Skenes was the No. 1 overall Draft pick in 2023.

For the foreseeable future, both could be favorites in NL Cy Young Award voting. In an early-season sample of six starts, Yamamoto and Skenes have certainly looked the part.

"There's a lot of time, but I do think that right now, [Yamamoto's] the best pitcher in the National League," manager Dave Roberts said last week in Texas. "Now, Skenes is pretty good, too, so no disrespect."

But there was no question that Skenes got the better of the matchup on Friday. From the beginning, Yamamoto was clearly struggling with his command. He walked two and gave up an RBI single in the first, putting an end to his 18-inning scoreless streak entering the contest. He went on to walk two more batters for a total of four on the night, the most he's issued in a Major League game.

"I think that he was just missing with his fastball. The breaking ball, he was just missing with," Roberts said. "He was running deep counts. Pitch count got up, certainly in that first inning. … He just typically has great command, and tonight he just wasn't as pinpoint."

After needing 54 pitches to get through his first two frames, Yamamoto settled down some with two quick innings. But Pirates catcher Henry Davis reached second with nobody out on a Max Muncy throwing error to open the fifth, and Yamamoto went on to surrender a pair of unearned runs in his final inning.

“As the game moved on, the second inning, third inning, I did start feeling my stuff was becoming better," Yamamoto said through interpreter Yoshihiro Sonoda. "However, I couldn’t grind through and get myself out of trouble.”

There was little margin for error with Skenes on the mound. He struck out nine batters without giving up a walk, giving the Dodgers few opportunities to get anything going.

Los Angeles squandered its best chance in the fourth, when Freddie Freeman doubled and advanced to third on a Bryan Reynolds fielding error to lead off the frame. He was 90 feet away from getting on the board as the tying run, but Skenes retired the next three batters in order to end the threat.

"When he needed to ratchet it up," Roberts said, "he did."

Even without his best stuff, Yamamoto showed flashes of why he could have a breakout year in the Majors ahead of him. He may have come out on the losing end of this week's star-studded showdown, but he nevertheless garnered some respect from the opposing side.

"You don't see guys like that very often," Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. "You don't see guys that run out with a sub-1.00 ERA. … We had some good at-bats off him, and we made him work. And then I think after the third, you saw him settle down a little bit. He had a quick inning. But I was really pleased with our approach, because he's elite."