Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto was chased off the mound after just one inning in his first career start in Major League Baseball on Thursday, as the San Diego Padres handed a 15-11 defeat to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Mookie Betts capped off the evening with four hits and six RBIs for the Dodgers, including the first home run of the season in Major League Baseball.
Jake Cronenworth matched a personal best with four hits and four RBIs for the Padres, who split the honors in this two-game series—the first to be held in South Korea in Major League Baseball history.
After the Dodgers turned a 9-2 deficit into a 12-11 deficit, Manny Machado hit a three-run homer in the ninth inning off reliever J.P. Feyereisen.
The Padres outmatched the Dodgers 17-6 in hits. Luis Campusano stood out with three hits, and 20-year-old center fielder Jackson Merrill obtained his first two career hits in Major League Baseball.
Shohei Ohtani hit three balls near the warning track and went 1-for-5, for a total of 3-for-10 with one RBI in this series. His interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday after reports from the 'Los Angeles Times' and 'ESPN' linked him to illegal gambling.
The Dodgers committed three defensive errors that resulted in two unearned runs.
Yamamoto (0-1) signed a 12-year, $325 million deal with the Dodgers, a record for a pitcher with very high expectations. The Padres hitters roughed up the two-time Pacific League MVP, and he left the game with an earned run average of 45.00 after giving up five runs, four hits, a walk, hitting a batter, and throwing a wild pitch.
Cronenworth's two-run triple, Ha-Seong Kim's sacrifice fly, Campusano's RBI double, and Tyler Wade's RBI single quickly gave the Padres a 5-1 cushion. Xander Bogaerts added a two-run single during a four-run rally in the third inning against Michael Grove.
Michael King (1-0) earned the win in his first outing with the Padres after being acquired from the New York Yankees in exchange for Juan Soto. King allowed three runs in three and a third innings of work.
Robert Suarez got the final four outs of the game to earn the save for the Padres.