Straight Talk: Yamamoto throws down strikingly clutch playoff performance

"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.

ATLANTA — Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto strikes out a postseason career-high 10 over seven innings, shutting down Ronald Acuna Jr. with the bases loaded in the fifth inning as Los Angeles takes a 2-1 series lead against the Atlanta Braves in their best-of-five playoff matchup on Tuesday in Atlanta. Yamamoto scatters four hits and a walk, and the Dodgers score three runs in the fourth inning on a pair of longballs to support the Japanese right-hander.

Q: Let's talk about that at-bat against Ronald Acuna — that pitch selection, that 3-1 count. How did you go about it and what do you remember of that particular moment of the game? 

Yamamoto: I felt good today and I felt like I had command of all my pitches. I felt like I could throw any pitch where I wanted to, and … what pitch was he asking about, the splitter? I know I was behind in the count, but I went with the splitter.

Q: What did he think about the postseason crowd here at Truist Park?

Yamamoto: Especially in the fourth inning, when I got into a jam, I really felt the excitement of the crowd and I it was a great atmosphere to play in.

Q: What makes you nervous, since apparently pitching in a big game does not?

Yamamoto: In the pregame, when I was getting ready, I was pretty nervous. But I just thought that time was important and I got myself mentally geared up for the game.

Q: Anything outside (of) baseball (make you nervous?

Yamamoto: Maybe, I don't know. 

Q: You hit a career high in strikeouts tonight in the postseason. You continue to impress. When you reflect, is this where you would expect yourself to be right now and how do you assess your performance?

Yamamoto: Well, I just felt really good today. I felt like things were good for me and had improved. I was able to put all my pitches where I wanted to, and even as the game went along, my stuff was getting better. I was able to see a lot of evidence of my stuff being good.

Q: Before the game, it looked like you and Chris Sale saw each other and did a hat tip toward each other. I wondered if you could tell us about that moment and sort of what it was like to be in this matchup with him?

Yamamoto: Well, last time out, I gave up the first run and that's the way the game ended and we lost. So I was thinking a lot about that first run. And my teammates put three runs up for me in one inning, so I wanted to turn it up and go pitch hard after that.