Shohei Ohtani hits a home run in his return, Yoshinobu Yamamoto throws 8 no-hit innings as Dodgers beat White Sox 7-1

The Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Chicago White Sox 7-1 on the road today, led by the stellar performances of Japanese duo Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Ohtani, returning to the lineup after missing a game due to left knee inflammation, hit his 14th homer of the season in his first at-bat and reached base four times. Yamamoto threw 8.1 innings of no-hit baseball, only giving up a home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to break the no-hitter. He allowed just one hit and one run over 8.1 innings, securing his seventh win of the season.

Ohtani batted leadoff again in this game. Facing White Sox starter Sean Burke in the first inning, he swung at the second pitch—a 94.2 mph high fastball—and sent it into the right-field stands. The solo shot had an exit velocity of 109.6 mph and traveled 409 feet. It marked Ohtani's fifth leadoff home run of the season and the 29th of his MLB career, and it also completed his first streak of three consecutive games with a home run this season.

In addition to the home run, Ohtani drew walks in the second, fourth, and sixth innings. He finished with one hit, one RBI, and three walks in three at-bats, reaching base four times and serving as the team's offensive catalyst.

Two days ago, Ohtani left a game early due to left knee inflammation and sat out the following contest. However, an MRI revealed no structural damage, and manager Dave Roberts said before the game that Ohtani had responded well to treatment, leading to his return to the starting lineup.

Yamamoto displayed dominant stuff from the very beginning, touching 98.3 mph on his fastball while mixing four-seamers, cutters, sliders, and split-finger pitches that left White Sox hitters helpless. Through the first eight innings, he retired the first 26 batters he faced, putting him on track to become the 25th pitcher in MLB history to throw a perfect game and the first Japanese pitcher ever to accomplish the feat.

However, with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning, Chase Meidroth hit a ground ball to shortstop, and Mookie Betts committed a fielding error, ending Yamamoto's perfect game bid. Despite that, Yamamoto still had a no-hitter going as he took the mound in the ninth. But the first batter he faced, Tristan Peters, hit a solo home run, breaking the no-hitter as well.

Yamamoto got one more out before being pulled. He finished with 8.1 innings pitched, allowing just one hit (the home run) and one run, while recording multiple strikeouts, earning his seventh win of the season.

Notably, in his previous start against the Angels, Yamamoto had retired 22 consecutive batters. Combined with the 23 straight outs he recorded in this game, his streak of consecutive batters retired reached 45, just one shy of the MLB record of 46 set by former Giants pitcher Yusmeiro Petit in 2014.