Dodgers' Japanese-born starting trio establishes unique MLB mark

Yoshinobu Yamamoto is next up for the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ internationally celebrated starting rotation.

Scheduled to start Saturday’s game against the Los Angeles Angels, Yamamoto will be challenged to maintain the 18.1 shutout innings streak compiled by the Dodgers’ Japanese-born starting pitchers. No other MLB squad has matched that mark in a season, let alone in five days.

Beginning with Yamanoto’s 5.1 shutout innings last Sunday, Shohei Ohtani followed it up with six shutout innings last Wednesday and Roki Saski, with renewed confidence, held serve with seven scoreless innings against the Angels on Friday night, helping the Dodgers to a 1-0, 10-inning victory at Dodgers Stadium.

How deep can Yamamoto carry the streak against the Angels?

When Yamamoto worked his scoreless outing, it proved to be little more than a game note.

When Ohtani hurled his six shutout innings last Wednesday, the MLB universe took notice of the two-way effort, which included three hits and two walks.

But when Saski completed his outing, which featured two hits allowed and a career-best 10 strikeouts, the 24-year-old right-hander earned his first scoreless outing in 18 MLB starts.

“He went through some tough times and some doubts, but he’s gotten to the other side,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, as reported by MLB.com. “He was on the attack.

Sasaki suffered social media infamy last season when he didn’t crack the starting rotation and a teary-eyed, disappointed expression meme developed during his MLB debut. An injury shelved him for nearly five months, but he returned to serve as the Dodgers’ World Series closer.

Questions on Sasaki’s ability to maintain a starting spot persisted during spring training. He’s beginning to prove them wrong over his past four starts, sharing the spotlight within the Dodgers’ internationally acclaimed rotation.

Yamamoto takes his turn Saturday night.