They say what goes around comes around, and in a game in which walks played a pivotal part in the Marlins’ handling of Dodgers’ ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the same applied for the Dodgers against closer Pete Fairbanks to set up a comeback win—Kyle Tucker had his first signature moment as a Dodger, delivering a two-out walk-off single to win it 5-4 in the ninth.
For a starter who fought against the tide for what felt like his entire performance, Yamamoto still came ridiculously close to delivering excellent results, even if the execution was nowhere near its finest. Sadly, a mistake against Liam Hicks in one of his last pitches in the fifth inning left the yard for a home run, driving in three runs due to Yamamoto’s issues keeping the Marlins off the bases—over Yamamoto’s five full innings of work, the Marlins earned four walks against the usually incredibly efficient Dodger starter, two of them coming around to score on that Hicks homer.
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Other than that three-run shot in the fifth, the only other run the Marlins had scored against Yamamoto came on an error in the third, as Hyeseong Kim failed to throw out Javier Sanoja on a ground ball with the bases loaded—the damage could’ve been bigger, but Yamamoto got the following batter to close the two-out threat. Increasingly defaulting to his trusty splitter as the game went on—with his vast pitching arsenal out of sync—Yamamoto left one in a 1-2 count a bit too high for Hicks, one of the few hitters he had dominated in this one until that point. There’s extra significance in that particular at-bat, as it was the first home run and extra-base hit of any kind against Yamamoto’s splitter in 2026—and only the second home run by a lefty off a Yamamoto splitter since he joined the Dodgers ahead of the 2024 campaign.
While those four runs (3 of them earned) in five innings were well below Yamamoto’s standard, it was hardly a performance that removed the Dodgers from the game. In fact, considering they were facing a struggling Chris Paddack and also the success of their bullpen as of late, the Dodgers had a considerable chance to take this one. Trailing 4-2 by the time Yamamoto threw his last pitch, it took the Dodgers until the last inning to seize it, but eventually they were able to.
Firstly came the frustrating efforts of the seventh inning, when the Dodgers loaded the bases against Andrew Nardi. The southpaw reliever had been brought in with a string of four left-handed hitters up—the primary one being Shohei Ohtani—only to face a couple of pinch-hitters as Alex Call and Miguel Rojas filled in for Hyeseong Kim and Alex Freeland. The Dodgers got the bags full, but Will Smith couldn’t do anything with it, shattering his bat on a harmless ground ball.
In the ninth, the Dodgers faced veteran closer Pete Fairbanks, and all they wanted was one hitter to reach base in order to give Shohei Ohtani an opportunity as the tying run. The first two hitters walked, Miguel Rojas popped out on a bunt attempt, and the game could’ve been tied if Ohtani’s double hadn’t gone into the stands for a ground-rule double. Fairbanks tried to pitch around Freddie Freeman and eventually had to walk him as well, the last batter he faced, leaving a mess for Tyler Phillips, who came in with the bases loaded and one out and had to defend a one-run lead. Smith’s second failed attempt with the bases loaded—this time striking out—left Miami one out away from Houdini-ing their way to escape this one, but Tucker had other plans and confirmed his outstanding career numbers with the bases loaded, winning the game for the Dodgers.
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Game particulars
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Home run— Liam Hicks (6)
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LP— Pete Fairbanks (0-2): 0.1 IP, 1 hit, 3 runs, 3 walks
Up next
It’s the same start time on Tuesday at 7:10 p.m. (PT) as the Dodgers return to action with Shohei Ohtani facing Janson Junk in what is the second-to-last game of this homestand.
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