CHICAGO - Los Angeles Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto came within four outs of a perfect game and narrowly missed a no-hitter, while Shohei Ohtani homered for the third straight outing in Saturday's 7-1 win against the Chicago White Sox.
Yamamoto (7-4) allowed one hit and one run while striking out seven over 8-1/3 dominant innings at Chicago's Rate Field.
He was able to take the mound with a 3-0 lead after Ohtani led off the game with a 409-foot (125-meter) blast over right field, followed by Max Muncy adding two runs with the first of his two homers for the game.
Yamamoto remained perfect until a Mookie Betts fielding error resulted in the first Chicago baserunner of the game with two out in the eighth inning.
The Japanese right-hander's no-hit bid ended when he surrendered a home run to Tristan Peters leading off the ninth. It was the closest he had come to a no-hitter since coming within one out against the Baltimore Orioles last September.
"I started to feel the pressure build as the no-hitter kept going, but I just tried to stay locked in and keep pitching," Yamamoto said. "Like last year, I got beat in the ninth. This one stung. It's a tough sport."
After sitting out Friday's loss to the White Sox, a well-rested Ohtani allayed concerns about inflammation in his left knee by blasting his 14th home run of the season during a 1-for-3 outing including three walks.
"I rested yesterday, and I felt good this morning, so I decided to go out," he said. "The result was good, so I think I can continue without any worries."
Chicago's Japanese slugger Munetaka Murakami remains sidelined by a right hamstring strain, with his return expected to be at least another two to four weeks away, according to MLB.com.
In other Major League Baseball action, Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Kazuma Okamoto crushed his 15th home run, an ice-breaking line-drive down the left-field line in the third inning of a 3-1 loss to the New York Yankees at Rogers Centre.
