By MIKEY HIRANO CULROSS, Rafu Sports Editor
“The playoffs are amazing!” shouted a beer-soaked Tommy Edman in the Dodgers’ clubhouse.
Picked up in a mid-season trade, the 29-year-old switch-hitter’s versatility and unexpected offensive output is one of the keys that led to Friday’s celebration, as the Dodgers shut out the rival San Diego Padres in the deciding Game 5 of their National League Division Series.
“I feel really lucky that I was able to come to such a great team.”
Shrugging off his shaky Game 1 start in which he surrendered five runs, Yoshinobu Yamamoto turned in a gem, allowing only two hits over five innings en route to a 2-0 victory, his first postseason win the U.S. major leagues.
“The last outing, I didn’t do my job well. So I tried to get myself ready for today’s game, resting,” Yamamoto said after the game, saying that he knew in the first inning that he felt confident and in control.
“In terms of velo today, I think my mechanics were locked in today,” he added.
Friday’s performance was a far cry from the regular season opener in Seoul, when Yamamoto didn’t get past the first inning against the Padres, giving up five runs in a gut-punch loss for L.A.
“We had a couple of meetings, how to attack because this is a great lineup,” Yamamoto said of his preparation for the winner-take-all finale on Friday. “I was just getting focused on getting myself ready for today.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Yamamoto set the tone early, and that his success in big games in Japan had shone through.
“He’s pitched in big ball games, and I believed in him. I knew he was going to rise to the occasion,” Roberts said. “He was outstanding tonight, and I knew he wasn’t going to run from this spot. I’m looking forward to riding him through the World Series.
“I think for me, I didn’t believe that he was going to run from this moment, and we were going to get everything he had,” Roberts added.
Enrique Hernández and Teoscar Hernández each hit solo home runs, and that’s all the offense Dodgers’ relief corps would need.
Friday was also notable simply for who was starting the game. Yamamoto faced off against San Diego ace Yu Darvish, marking the first time in MLB history that two Japan-born starting pitchers opposed each other in an MLB postseason matchup.
In addition, Padres starting catcher Kyle Higashioka is also of Japanese heritage, as is Roberts, who was born in Okinawa.
“Yoshi is pitching for his country,” said Roberts. “When you pitch for the [World Baseball Classic], for the country of Japan, those are the highest stakes that you can have. He’s done that and pitched well in those moments. So has Darvish. I have to give Yu a lot of credit for what he did.
The only sign of trouble for Yamamoto was in the fifth inning, when Padres slugger Fernando Tatis, Jr. came to the plate with one out and runners on first and second base. Tatis was batting .438 with four postseason home runs coming into Friday, but Yamamoto got him to ground into an inning-ending double play to thwart the best Padres rally of the game.
As in Game 4, the Dodgers bullpen took over and stymied the San Diego offense, ending the series by not allowing the Padres to score in 24 consecutive innings.
The Padres’ clubhouse was sullen and quiet after the loss, with the silence broken only by the occasional clinking of dishes in the visitors’ dining room.
“This team played a phenomenal season, and I thought we did things the right way. We just came up inches short,” Higashioka said. “In my opinion, these were the two best teams in baseball going at it.
“We played a phenomenal season, especially in the second half. I don’t know if anybody was better than us over that course. It was just such an intense series with two great teams.”
The native of Huntington Beach gave credit to the Dodger pitching staff for finding success against the high-powered San Diego offense.
“We hit well off them all year, and they just figured it out at the right time,” he said.
L.A. now advances to the NL Championship Series, where they will take on the New York Mets and compete for a berth in the World Series. Game 1 of the NLCS is set for 5 p.m. Sunday at Dodger Stadium, with Game 2 scheduled for 1 p.m. Monday.