Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed just one hit in his lone World Series start against the Yankees in October, but his experience on "Sunday Night Baseball" was much rockier.

Yamamoto was was knocked out of the game in the fourth inning by a resurgent Yankees offense, which bounced back from a demoralizing 18-2 loss on Saturday. He saw his ERA jump from sub-2 territory to 2.39, dealing a blow to his early Cy Young campaign in a rare blowup. 

The Dodgers have numerous key pitchers on the injured list, including Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell, but they had been able to lean heavily on Yamamoto in the Japanese phenom's second MLB season until Sunday night's struggles.

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Here's a closer look at Yamamoto's final line against the Yankees.

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Yoshinobu Yamamoto stats vs. Yankees

Yamamoto lasted only 3.2 innings against the Yankees on "Sunday Night Baseball."

• Innings: 3.2
• Hits: 7
• Earned runs: 4
• Walks: 3
• Strikeouts: 2
• Pitches: 96

Ben Rice took Yamamoto deep to centerfield for a mammoth home run, but the 26-year-old's issues went beyond just allowing hard contact. He simply wasn't sharp, issuing three walks and letting Yankees hitters build up counts against him. The result was a whopping 96 pitches through less than four innings.

Rice, Rice, Baby 🍚 pic.twitter.com/WD85wRJVvy

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) June 1, 2025

Even if the Dodgers were willing to let Yamamoto work through his struggles, he left manager Dave Roberts with little choice but to go to the bullpen with a pitch count nearing 100 and the Yankees taking control of the game.

Yamamoto allowed only four earned runs through his first seven starts this season, good for a sparkling 0.90 ERA through his outing on May 2. After struggling with five earned runs against the Diamondbacks, Yamamoto rebounded to toss a one-hit gem against that same Arizona team later in May — but his start against the Yankees was a second setback in an otherwise stellar season.

The Dodgers took the first two games of their World Series rematch with the Yankees, securing the series win with Saturday's blowout.