(Reuters) — Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s no-hit and shutout bids were broken up by Tristan Peters’ homer leading off the bottom of the ninth, but the Los Angeles Dodgers cruised past the host Chicago White Sox 7-1 on Saturday.
Yamomoto (7-4) only allowed the home run, did not walk a batter and struck out seven in 8 1/3 innings. He retired the first 23 White Sox batters.
Last season, Yamamoto had a no-hitter with two outs in the ninth inning against the Baltimore Orioles on Sept. 6., before serving up a homer to Jackson Holliday. Baltimore scored four runs in the inning for a 4-3 victory.
His first disappointment of the game was when the perfect game chase was foiled as shortstop Mookie Betts booted Chase Meidroth’s grounder for an error with two out in the eighth. Yamamoto recovered by retiring Jacob Gonzalez on a groundout.
Max Muncy hit two two-run homers, was 3-for-3 and walked twice to lead the onslaught. Shohei Ohtani homered, scored two runs and walked three times and Kyle Tucker drove in two runs for the Dodgers, who evened the three-game series.
Betts went 3-for-5 and scored three times.
Chicago had its eight-game home winning streak snapped.
Peters’ home run, his third, came on Yamamoto’s 0-1 four-seam fastball.
Chicago starter and loser Sean Burke (3-4) gave up four runs on six hits in four innings with five walks and six strikeouts.
The Dodgers took a 3-0 lead in the first on Ohtani’s and Muncy’s home runs.
Ohtani, back in the lineup after missing Friday night’s game with left knee inflammation, hit the game’s second pitch — a 1-0 four-seamer from Burke — into the right-field stands an estimated 409 feet for his 14th home run.
With two out and a runner on first, Muncy drove Burke’s 3-0 fastball into the right-field seats for his first two-run homer. The estimated distance of the drive was 415 feet.
Kyle Tucker’s RBI single in the third made it 4-0. Los Angeles loaded the bases with one out later in the inning but Burke got Dalton Rushing looking and Alex Freeland on a groundout.
Tucker’s bases-loaded walk in the sixth ran the score to 5-0.
Muncy’s second two-run homer of the game, deep into the right-centerfield stands, in the eighth made it 7-0. It was his 16th home run of the campaign.
