Dodgers 2, Mets 1: Yoshinobu Yamamoto & Nolan McLean duel lives up to the billing, and Kyle Tucker wins it late

Chad Moriyama 04/14/2026 Uncategorized Leave A Comment

The losing streak of the Mets was at six and Yoshinobu Yamamoto was on the bump for the Dodgers, not where they probably wanted to be. However, they did have their own young phenom on the hill in Nolan McLean, and they dueled over seven-plus innings to keep things tight. However, the first chance the Dodgers got against the Mets pen led to a run, and that secured a 2-1 victory and the series.

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The billed battle of aces got off to a rough start … then it got very real.

Francisco Lindor began the scoring in the 1st by thanking Yoshinobu Yamamoto for a middle-middle fastball on a 2-0 count to make it 1-0 Mets.

Not ideal, but for a while it looked like that was the only thing preventing a run at a perfecto.

Yamamoto followed that by reeling off 20 batters in a row retired into the 7th inning, complete with a leaping catch while covering the bag.

Yamamoto’s streak was ended by a double with two outs in the 7th, and he followed that with a walk to put a pair on. However, he rebounded with a strikeout on a crazy split to end the threat.

He came back out for the 8th and retired the first two, one of whom hit a flyball to the track.

When you get away with one:

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— Chad Moriyama (@chadmoriyama.bsky.social) April 14, 2026 at 5:49 PM

He then gave up back-to-back singles to corner the runners, and that was it for him: 7.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 7 K, 104 Pitches.

The one stayed up there thanks to the work of Blake Treinen, who entered and threw just one sinker and six sweepers for the strikeout to get him out of the jam.

Of course, the tension was there because not much scoring was happening for the Dodgers either.

On the opposite side was young ace Nolan McLean, who showcased his incredible stuff and also some early erratic command. The Dodgers took advantage of that, as a one-out walk from Kyle Tucker in the 1st was followed by a Will Smith double with a full count that was deflected by the left fielder, and Freddie Freeman then followed with a roller to first to plate a run and tie things at 1-1.

That was about it.

McLean retired the next 12 in a row before a two-out walk and pickoff attempt error gave them a chance. But he slammed the door on that and retired seven of the final eight he faced (two-out single in the 7th) to keep things tied through seven.

Fortunately, that was it for McLean, as the Mets turned to Brooks Raley in the 8th. He immediately issued a lead-off walk to pinch-hitting Miguel Rojas, and pinch-hitting Santiago Espinal sacrificed him to second. They opted to intentionally walk Shohei Ohtani to continue his on base streak, and then Kyle Tucker blooped a single for a 2-1 lead.

Notably, it was Alex Vesia and not Edwin Diaz in the 9th, but no matter. In front of a suite of healthcare workers that supported him and his wife through their ideal, he struck out the side on just 10 pitches to secure the save.

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Air

Air Yama

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— Chad Moriyama (@chadmoriyama.bsky.social) April 14, 2026 at 4:57 PM

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13-4

The matchup for the series finale on ESPN tomorrow at 4:00 PM HT/7:00 PM PT/10:00 PM ET is a marquee one in Shohei Ohtani looking to keep his ERA at 0.00 against Clay Holmes, who is off to another great start.

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