Straight Talk: Yamamoto laments pair of home run pitches in loss to BoSox
John E. Gibson
Host · Writer
"Straight Talk" is a regular feature in which The Sporting Tribune's John E. Gibson offers a full translation of media availability with Dodgers Japanese stars Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki. He will also help translate when Clippers star Rui Hachimura and L.A. Galaxy captain Maya Yoshida are asked questions in Japanese.
The job of interpreters in the heat of the moment is difficult without the ability to write down questions and answers and re-hear responses for proper context. That's where John comes in to help. John currently works as a Japanese-English interpreter and covered pro baseball in Japan for about 20 years. His experience as a sports reporter includes stints at The Orange County Register, The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, The Redlands Daily Facts, The Yomiuri Shimbun’s English newspaper in Tokyo and The Epoch Times.
LOS ANGELES – Yoshinobu Yamamoto (11-7) works eight strong innings but serves up a pair of solo homers to and a run in the inning to take the loss at home for the Los Angeles Dodgers in a 3-2 decision at home against the Boston Red Sox on Saturday night. Yamamoto allows three runs on four hits and a walk, while punching out three as the Dodgers fail to generate much offense.
Q: Yoshi, you were excellent tonight, even (manager) Dave Roberts was saying it was just those two pitches to Ceddanne Rafaela. If you could go back, what would you like different with those pitches?
Yamamoto: Well, the approach … I think if I could have made better pitches – put the ball in a little bit better locations – I think the results would’ve been different.
Q: When you look at just being able to get deep into the game, there wasn’t as many strikeouts or swing and miss, but when you’re getting the ground ball and soft contact, how valuable is it for you?
Yamamoto: So I didn’t change anything in particular about the way I threw, it’s just that those are the results we saw today – the outcomes just came sooner than later. It goes that way sometimes.
Q: The news is just coming out, that the Dodgers just traded for Tarik Skubal. What’s your reaction?
Yamamoto: Well, it’s a surprise. I originally heard news reports about him possibly coming, but the news that he’s really coming is a surprise.
