Yoshinobu Yamamoto Was Four Outs From History When Mookie Betts Blew It, And Then It Got Worse

Alright, Seattle, you guys HAVE to hear about this one, even if it wasn't our boys out on the mound. MLB history was SO close to being made on Saturday afternoon, and then it got absolutely ripped away, not by the other team's bats, but by an error from one of the game's biggest stars. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the Dodgers' righty, was putting on a clinic against the White Sox, flirting with a perfect game, then a no-hitter, and watching it all evaporate in the cruelest way possible. You just had to feel for the guy.

A Perfect Game Lost to One Brutal Error

Yamamoto was, no exaggeration, dealing a masterclass out there in Chicago. He was locked in, pitching a perfect game through a mind-blowing 7 ⅔ innings. His command? Forget about it. The ball was exactly where he wanted it, outside corner, inside corner, no misses. He was putting on a clinic, and the White Sox just couldn't touch him. But then, with two outs in the eighth inning, the unimaginable happened. A weak grounder, usually a routine play, went right to Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts. And he botched it. An error. Just like that, the perfect game, one of only 24 in MLB history (Sandy Koufax had the only one for the Dodgers back in '65), was gone. You could see Betts hanging his head in the dugout after the third out, a picture of pure agony, even as Yamamoto gave him a pat on the butt. You know what that feels like, don't you, Emerald City? The pain of a moment slipping away because of one play. Before that, Yamamoto had caught some breaks, sure, like Miguel Vargas' hard liner right at the left fielder in the seventh, or Colson Montgomery's scorcher right at Freddie Freeman to lead off the eighth. But he was earning it.

From No-Hitter to One-Hitter in a Heartbeat

Even after Betts' error, the dude STILL had a no-hitter going through eight full innings. Think about that for a second. He was one more clean inning away from immortality, an individual no-hitter for the Dodgers, who already lead MLB with 26 no-nos in club history. But baseball, man, it can be brutal. To lead off the ninth inning, White Sox center fielder Triston Peters stepped up and crushed a home run. Just like that, the no-hitter AND the shutout bids were gone in one swing. The final line for Yamamoto, after all that late dramatics, was still incredible: 8 ⅓ innings pitched, 1 hit, 1 run, 0 walks, and 7 strikeouts. The Dodgers still won the game, 7-1, a silver lining for sure, but the personal history was absolutely gutted. This wasn't some fluke outing, either. Yamamoto, last year's World Series MVP, came into this game with a 2.68 ERA and a 0.92 WHIP, and he had a ridiculously low 0.99 ERA in his previous four starts. He was dominating, just like we've seen him do before, but this time, he was moments from something truly special. Man, what a heartbreaker, even if it wasn't our guys. You watch that and you just know the feeling. Speaking of tough nights, our Mariners didn't fare so well, dropping their game to the Washington Nationals with a final score of 8-3. We gotta shake that off and get back to grinding, Seattle. Lots of season left to play!

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.