Yamamoto throws complete game as Dodgers clinch series over Yankees

The Dodgers took down the Yankees 8-2 in the first game of today's doubleheader to secure the series win. Cam Schlittler got the starting nod for the Yankees and faced off against Yoshinobu Yamamoto. 

In the top of the first inning, Schlittler struck out Shohei Ohtani, Andy Pages and Freddie Freeman in order. 

Trent Grisham, Ben Rice and Jasson Dominguez went three up, three down in the bottom half of the first inning.

It looked like Schlittler picked up the second out of the top of the second inning, but  Max Schuemann lost a routine flyball in the sky, resulting in a double. But Schlittler picked up the final two outs with some help from a leaping catch by Anthony Volpe.

Schlittler allowed a one-out single to the Dodgers' No. 9 hitter in the top of the third inning. Ohtani followed with an RBI double, giving the Dodgers a 1-0 lead. A few batters later, Freeman dunked an RBI bloop single into center field to make it 2-0. 

Schlittler struck out the side in the top of the fourth inning to put his total up to eight for the ballgame. 

Grisham led off the bottom of the fourth inning with a no-doubt solo shot into the second deck in right field, his 11th home run of the year, to make it a 2-1 game. 

Schlittler was ahead in the count 0-2 but ended up plunking the No. 9 hitter to lead off the fifth inning. Then Pages extended the Dodgers' lead to 3-1 with a broken-bat RBI double. Tim Hill replaced Schlittler and picked up the final two outs of the frame.

Final line for Schlittler: 4.1 innings pitched, six hits allowed, three earned runs, didn't walk anybody, and struck out eight on 98 pitches. He threw his fastball 38% of the time, the sinker 29%, the cutter 19%, and the curveball 14%. Schlittler topped out at 100.1 mph, sitting at 98.1, and had 20 whiffs. 

Hill came back out for the top of the sixth inning and picked up the first two outs, then walked a batter to end his outing. Angel Chivilli took over and picked up a strikeout to strand a runner at first base. 

Chivilli remained in for the top of the seventh and retired the top of the Dodgers lineup in order and picked up a pair of strikeouts. 

Rice led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a double into the right-center field gap. However, Dominguez popped out, Cody Bellinger flew out, and Max Schuemann lined out to strand Rice. 

Jake Bird got the call for the top of the eighth inning and allowed the Dodgers to extend their lead to 4-1 thanks to an RBI double from Teoscar Hernández. No. 9 hitter Tommy Edman tacked on two more runs with a two-run single to extend the Dodgers' lead to 6-1. Then Ohtani made it a 7-1 game and ended Birds' day with an RBI single. Camilo Doval came in to make matters worse, and he allowed a sacrifice fly to Freeman. 

Jazz Chisholm Jr. led off the bottom of the eighth inning with a double that Pages lost in the sun. The next batter, Anthony Volpe, dunked an RBI bloop single into left field, cutting the Dodgers' lead to 8-2. 

Doval came back out for the top of the ninth and worked a scoreless inning thanks to Ali Sánchez back picking a runner at third base for the final out. 

Yamamoto retired the Yankees in order in the bottom of the ninth inning to clinch the series win for the Dodgers and finish off a rare complete game. 

The Yankees will look to salvage the final game of the series tonight on Sunday Night Baseball. Both starting pitchers are still TBD, but it will most likely be Elmer Rodriguez for the Yankees. First pitch is slated for 7:20 p.m. ET on NBC. 

My thoughts on the game: Decent start from Schitller; the Dodgers just really battled against him and forced him to throw a lot of pitches early. Hill did his job. Chivilli looked great; I have really liked what I have seen out of him since he returned. Bird still sucks; he needs to be sent down or traded or something- just get him far away from the Yankees. Doval didn't look great walking three batters, but he somehow picked up five outs without allowing a run. The offense just got completely shut down by Yamamoto, as he held them to just four hits and two runs. With the Dodgers going with a bullpen game tonight, Yamamoto put them in a great spot with a complete game. On to tonight, as the Yankees will look to avoid being swept.