"Yada claimed that Yamamoto being in the bullpen would be enough to give the Dodgers a psychological edge over Toronto, both for the morale of his teammates and to keep Blue Jays' hitters uneasy. However, with one out and two on in the ninth inning, the ace trotted out of the bullpen and on his way to World Series MVP honors."
"Yamamoto was already entering the game in an extremely high-leverage situation, but after hitting a batter just two pitches into his outing, the bases were loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning of a 4-4 game in Game 7 of the World Series. The ace generated a ground ball that created an incremental force out at home plate, and on the very next pitch, a fly ball that Andy Pages miraculously tracked down (taking down Kiké Hernández in the process)."
Yoshinobu Yamamoto entered Game 7 unexpectedly after warming up in the bullpen following Game 6. Manager Dave Roberts had said all pitchers except Yamamoto would be available, but longtime personal trainer Osamu Yada persuaded him to throw in the bullpen. Yamamoto then pitched the final 2.2 innings in Game 7, facing extreme high-leverage moments. He hit a batter early, faced a bases-loaded ninth in a 4-4 game, induced a ground-ball force out at home, and yielded a fly ball tracked down by Andy Pages. He recorded a 10th-inning strikeout and helped produce the World Series–winning double play after Will Smith's 11th-inning homer, earning World Series MVP honors.
Read at Dodgers Nation
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