There were 265 pitches thrown in Friday’s game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, but the game was over after the second pitch of the game.

That’s when soon-to-be (on May 9) 30-year-old Dodgers second baseman and leadoff batter Tommy Edman (in place of Shohei Ohtani who was out on paternity leave) drove a 98.3-mph four seam fastball from 36-year-old longtime Dodgers nemesis right-hander Jacob deGrom 398 feet over the wall in right center field to give his team a 1-0 lead in their eventual 3-0 shutout of the AL West first-place Ranger before the seats were even warm.

“Yeah, he’s nasty, I mean he’s been one of the best pitchers in the game for a long time, so you gotta be ready to hit against him,” Edman told SportsNet LA’s Kirsten Watson postgame. “You know, you just can’t let him get into the count and, you know, he just did a really good job throughout the game.”

On the other side of the ball, fans were treated to arguably the best pitching match-up of the (very) young 2025 regular season between deGrom and Dodgers right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who was sensational. The 25-year-old Bizen, Japan native went a season-high seven innings allowing no runs and five hits, doing so on 102 pitches, of which 68 for strikes.

“Man, he was good tonight … he elevated his game to another level,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Yamamoto postgame. “There’s a lot of time (remaining in the season), but I do think that right now he’s the best pitcher in the National League.”

Yamamoto is now 3-1 on the season with an insane 0.93 ERA.

The Dodgers needed every bit of Edman’s and Yamamoto’s magic on Friday. With the win and losses by the Padres, Giants, D-backs and Rockies, the Dodgers are now in second place in the NL West a half-game behind the division-leading Padres.

Play Ball!

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