Yamamoto throws complete game as Dodgers go up 2-0 in NLCS

Yoshinobu Yamamoto recorded a complete game in the Los Angeles Dodgers' 5-1 win over the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 2 of the NLCS on Tuesday.

The Dodgers took a 2-0 series lead with the victory.

Yamamoto allowed just one run on three hits with one walk and seven strikeouts on 111 pitches in the victory at American Family Field. The All-Star hurler is the first Dodgers pitcher to throw a complete game in the postseason since Jose Lima in the 2004 NLDS.

Yamamoto's effort was also the first complete game in the postseason since Justin Verlander accomplished the feat in Game 2 of the 2017 ALCS.

The 27-year-old surrendered a leadoff homer to Jackson Chourio on the first pitch of the bottom of the first inning. However, the right-hander limited the Brewers to just two singles the rest of the game.

Yamamoto and Blake Snell, who allowed one hit with 10 strikeouts in Game 1, are the first pair of Dodgers to log eight-plus innings in consecutive playoff games since Orel Hershiser and Tim Belcher in Games 1 and 2 of the 1988 NLCS.

"We chased way more than we've chased all year," Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. "We've been the best in baseball at not chasing. These pitchers brought out the worst in us.

"If I would have told you that the Dodgers were going to score seven runs in two games, and what was the outcome in the first two games, I'd say there's a chance we win one of them for sure."

Max Muncy and Teoscar Hernández homered in the win. The former hit his franchise-best 14th postseason home run in the sixth inning to break a tie with Corey Seager and Justin Turner.

"It means a lot to me," Muncy said of the record. "The Dodgers are a franchise that have been around for a very, very long time. A lot of very successful players have played in this organization. And to be able to break that record is kind of huge for me."

The defending World Series champions are two wins away from returning to the Fall Classic, with the series shifting to Dodger Stadium for the next three games. Los Angeles is 7-1 in the 2025 postseason.

The Dodgers appear to be on a collision course with the Seattle Mariners in a potential World Series showdown, as this season marks the first time since 1970 that road teams grabbed a 2-0 lead in both LCS matchups.

"The one thing is you guys might have us counted out. And I understand that. 90 percent of the teams that have been in this situation don't win the series," Murphy said. "But this team has been counted out a lot this year. And I think there's some fight left in them."