Nothing the San Diego Padres tried could disturb Yoshinobu Yamamoto on Saturday night. Working through seven innings without allowing a run, Yamamoto struck out 10 and walked two while scattering three hits across 100 pitches. The Dodgers did the rest quietly, scoring once in each of the third, sixth, and eighth innings to win 3-0 before 52,284 at Dodger Stadium.
Yamamoto earned his ninth win of the season against five losses, carrying a 2.49 ERA. The performance was methodical: three hits allowed, no runs, and double-digit strikeouts on a night when the Padres could not string anything together. Will Klein closed it out with a scoreless ninth, striking out two on 16 pitches for his second save of the season.
The Dodgers broke through in the third. Andy Pages singled to left, and Dalton Rushing scored to give Los Angeles a 1-0 lead it would not relinquish. Freddie Freeman extended the margin in the sixth with a home run to right center, measured at 388 feet. Freeman added another run in the eighth, singling to center to score Tommy Edman. Freeman finished 2-for-3 with a walk, a home run, and 2 RBI, hitting .297 on the season with 15 home runs and 49 RBI.
Griffin Canning absorbed the loss for San Diego, falling to 1-6. He allowed 1 run on 2 hits over 4 innings, walking two and striking out four across 73 pitches. With a 6.71 ERA, Canning has struggled to find consistency, and Saturday offered little relief.
Los Angeles improved to 58-31, winners of two straight, and holds first place in the division. San Diego dropped to 43-44, extending its losing streak to seven games.