CINCINNATI -- At the outset of his start, Yoshinobu Yamamoto did not look like himself on the mound.
Yamamoto missed with eight of the first nine pitches he threw on Tuesday night, walking the first two Reds batters he faced -- the fourth time this season he walked multiple batters in a single inning, and the first time in his Major League career that he opened a start by issuing back-to-back free passes.
Two batters, two baserunners. But the Reds would get only one more batter aboard in the remainder of Yamamoto's seven strong innings.
After his inauspicious beginning, Yamamoto retired 21 of the 22 Reds batters he faced as the Dodgers rolled to a 4-0 victory at Great American Ball Park. He struck out seven and allowed just one hit, an Elly De La Cruz double in the bottom of the third.
“After the first two hitters, it was vintage Yama," manager Dave Roberts said. "Just attacking, not trying to be too fine. Not giving these guys too much credit."
One day after Tarik Skubal opened the four-game set in Cincinnati with a gem -- a three-hit, seven-inning effort -- Yamamoto raised the bar. Blake Snell is up next as the Dodgers close in on their 13th NL West title in the past 14 seasons, which they can clinch as soon as Wednesday with another win and a Padres loss.
Yamamoto was able to learn from how the Reds approached Skubal the night before, and Snell was no doubt gathering similar information on Tuesday.
"That kind of encouraged me to be aggressive and attack the hitters," Yamamoto said through interpreter Yoshihiro Sonoda.
But sometimes pitching well seems to be contagious, as the Dodgers experienced last postseason, when dominance from the rotation drove their run to back-to-back championships. That could be the case again as they bid for a three-peat, and Yamamoto will be one of the arms leading the way.
"It's a special pitching staff. It really is," said Freddie Freeman, who knocked three hits after sitting out Monday due to right knee soreness. "So as an offense, we just need to score a few runs for them, just like we did last year."
After Yamamoto threw nine pitches to his first two batters, he needed only eight pitches to record three quick outs. That seemed to reset him.
"I think we just went back to just attacking the zone with the fastball, just getting ahead," catcher Hunter Feduccia said. "His stuff's really good, so just getting back in the zone, giving him the confidence to get back in there."
Said Yamamoto: "Mentally I was very calm, and then still kept composed, so I was able to make an adjustment on time."
From there, Yamamoto was in control. He induced 16 whiffs on five different pitch types, each kind he threw except for his sinker. De La Cruz's 98.8 mph double was the only hard-hit ball in play against Yamamoto beyond the first inning.
“You almost have to respect five [pitches]," Reds manager Terry Francona said.
Yamamoto has been a steady presence in the rotation from the time he took the ball on Opening Day, but he has looked especially sharp of late. He has recorded at least one out in the seventh inning in five consecutive starts, and completed the seventh in his past three. He has allowed more than two runs only twice in 10 second-half starts, posting a 1.98 ERA that ranks fifth among Major Leaguers who have pitched at least 50 innings.
In each of the past two postseasons, Yamamoto has established himself as a big-game performer. Tuesday's mid-September contest against the Reds, who have been eliminated from postseason contention, was nowhere near as high-stakes as the games Yamamoto will be starting in a few short weeks. But the way he was able to adjust after his first two batters was indicative of what makes him so good in meaningful games.
When Yamamoto gets in a jam, he's capable of making pitches to get himself out with minimal damage.
"Those are separators when you’re not totally locked in or in sync," Roberts said. "You can still take a deep breath, reset and navigate an inning, and keep going."
And when Yamamoto gets into a groove, it's difficult for opposing batters to shake him from his rhythm.