Pitchers Duel between Yamamoto and McLean ends with LA on top

Image Credit: Emma Sharon/Latino Sports

LOS ANGELES, CA — What a difference a year made for the New York Mets, making many moves in the offseason and now seem to be going backward. Yes, it is a long season, and things can turn around, but going from first place in the NL East at 10-7 to start the 2025 campaign to last place at 7-10 to start this season has Mets fans worried.

The loss of their best hitter, and three-time LatinoMVP Award recipient, Juan Soto, from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, has hurt them immensely as the 27-year-old superstar was recently placed on the injured list with a right calf strain. He has been available for only eight of the Mets’ first 17 games while rehabbing. 

On Monday night, the boys from Queens, NY, must have felt like they were facing Sandy Koufax at Dodger Stadium when they faced 25-year-old Justin Wrobleski, who is LA’s No. 6 starter, as he pitched eight innings of two-hit shutout ball.

Twenty four hours later on Tuesday, New York sent out their better starter this year, Nolan McLean, 1-1, 2.70 ERA, while the 12-4 Dodgers countered with 2025 World Series MVP, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who was 2-1, with a 1.50 ERA, heading into the matchup. 

And to start it all off, Yamamoto was greeted by two-time LatinoMVP, Francisco Lindor, from Caguas, Puerto Rico, with a 402-foot home run into the right field pavilion, the 32nd leadoff home run of his career, to give the Mets a 1-0 lead.

The Dodgers answered back in the bottom of the first after a walk to Kyle Tucker, a double by Will Smith, and a ground-out RBI by Freddie Freeman. And that was all the scoring until the eighth inning, as both Yamamoto and McLean were putting together a masterclass in pitching. Yamamoto retired all 20 batters he faced after the first inning home run to Lindor, until Bo Bichette doubled in the top of the seventh inning—leaving with a line of 7.2 innings pitched, four hits, one run, one walk,  seven strikeouts, and one home run. 

He threw 104 pitches, 65 for strikes as McLean (95 pitches, 68 for strikes) left with a line of 7 innings pitched, two hits, one run, two walks, and eight strikeouts. 

“He pretty much dominated one of the best lineups in the league,” said manager Carlos Mendoza of McLean’s outing. 

The Dodgers would score a run in the bottom of the eighth inning on a leadoff walk to Miguel Rojas, Los Teques, Venezuela, a bunt from Santiago Espinal to move him into scoring position, an intentional walk to Shohei Ohtani, and a bloop single by Tucker that drove in Rojas with the go-ahead run. 

Alex Vesia, celebrating his 30th birthday on Tuesday, closed it in the ninth for LA, striking out the three Mets batters he faced.

“We (Manager Dave Roberts and Vesia) exchanged some words and what not but yeah, for me, birthdays are whatever,” said Vesia. “We had a game to play so it was all good.” 

The time of the game? Two hours and three minutes. 

Two great pitching performances by Yamamoto and McLean, both with a no-decision game, as Blake Treinen got the 2-1 win after pitching to one batter. 

That’s baseball, my friends. 

On Wednesday, for the series finale, Ohtani, who is 1-0, 0.00 ERA, is scheduled to start for the Dodgers (13-4), while Clay Holmes, standing 2-1, 1.50 ERA, will go for the Mets (7-11).

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