LOS ANGELES Dodger Shohei Ohtani is having a rough post-season at bat (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

By Steve Megargee
AP Sports Writer

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Yoshinobu Yamamoto finally flopped in a playoff game, and now the Los Angeles Dodgers are heading back home with their bid for a third straight championship in serious jeopardy.
Yamamoto lasted just 2 2/3 innings for his shortest postseason start as the Dodgers lost 7-4 to Milwaukee on Monday to fall behind 2-0 in the National League Championship Series.

YOSHI YAMAMOTO (Wikipedia).

Game Three will be today (Wednesday) in Los Angeles with a 5 p.m. start. Game Four will also be in Dodger stadium, on Thursday. Game Five is Friday in LA. Games Six and Seven (if needed) will be back in Milwaukee on Sunday and Monday.

The Brewers continually fouled off pitches and drove up Yamamoto’s pitch count before knocking him out of the game.

“I don’t know the exact reason yet,” Yamamoto said through an interpreter. “I need to check the videos and then I can reflect on what happened today.”

It was quite a departure for a pitcher who was virtually unhittable last October.

Yamamoto, the 2025 World Series MVP, entered 8-1 with a 2.14 ERA in 11 career postseason appearances. In Game 2 of the Dodgers’ NLCS sweep of Milwaukee last season, Yamamoto threw a three-hitter and pitched the first playoff complete game since Houston’s Justin Verlander threw one in 2017.

In three earlier postseason starts following Dodgers losses, Yamamoto had gone 3-0 with a 1.23 ERA.

The Dodgers are also missing the hitting production of Shohei Ohtani, who had three hits in 20 at-bats this post-season.