Yamamoto Starts for Dodgers Against Cardinals in Los Angeles

Wednesday Night in Los Angeles

Yoshinobu Yamamoto is the starting pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers against the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday, the second game of the series in Los Angeles.

The Cardinals counter with left-hander Brycen Mautz. Viva El Birdos, a St. Louis fan site, reported that first pitch is scheduled for 9:10 p.m. Central time, with the game shown on Cardinals.tv.

The two teams play in Major League Baseball, the top professional league in North America. Tuesday's opener went badly for the home side.

The Tuesday Loss

True Blue LA, a Dodgers site, reported that Los Angeles scored eight runs on Tuesday and still lost, because starter Eric Lauer and the relievers who followed him could not hold the Cardinals down.

The same outlet described the Dodgers giving up a season-high 13 runs in that defeat, calling the pitching forgettable from start to finish.

A Pitcher Without Support

True Blue LA reported that in his most recent start Yamamoto threw 6 1/3 innings and allowed only one run, a leadoff home run by Atlanta Braves catcher Drake Baldwin. He was matched by Braves left-hander Chris Sale, who shut out the Dodgers and finished the complete game.

The site framed that as typical of Yamamoto's career, and of August in particular. He posted a 1.95 earned run average for the month, a strong figure, yet finished with a record of one win and two losses.

According to True Blue LA, the Dodgers have scored three or more runs behind Yamamoto only twice in his past six starts, and five of those games were decided by a single run.

What the Matchup Offers

Yamamoto has faced the Cardinals twice in his career and has not allowed a run in 11 innings against them, True Blue LA reported.

The Cardinals bullpen should be close to full strength. Reliever Ryan Fernandez worked 1 2/3 innings on Tuesday, but the site noted that the rest of the relief corps has seen little recent use.

The sources do not report the result of Wednesday's game, and they do not say how the Dodgers stand in the standings beyond noting a 2-4 road trip and a below-average offense over the previous two months.