Yamamoto (12-8) took the loss against Atlanta on Thursday, allowing one run on four hits and one walk while striking out eight batters over 6.1 innings.
Yamamoto's first pitch of the game was hit over the right-field wall by Drake Baldwin for a quick Atlanta lead. After that, Yamamoto was outstanding, allowing only four more baserunners and no more runs during his time in the contest. However, opposing starter Chris Sale throttled the Dodgers in a complete-game shutout to hand Yamamoto the loss. Despite the defeat, the reigning World Series MVP was mostly dominant, matching Sale with 20 whiffs while notching his third consecutive quality start. Yamamoto has been one of MLB's top pitchers again this season, ranking seventh among qualified hurlers with a 2.56 ERA and second with a 0.89 WHIP while posting a 153:36 K:BB over 158 innings spanning 24 starts.