TORONTO (Reuters) -Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto was named Most Valuable Player of baseball’s World Series early on Sunday after leading the Los Angeles Dodgers to a repeat championship.
Yamamoto forced the decisive seventh game of the World Series with a solid outing against the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday and pitched the final 2-2/3 innings of the clinching game without allowing a single run.
The Japanese right-hander secured the win for the Dodgers when, with runners on first and third and one out, he got Alejandro Kirk to ground into a season-ending and championship-clinching double play.
“I was not sure if I could pitch tonight until I went to the bullpen,” Yamamoto said through a translator after being named MVP. “But I’m glad I was able to.”
In his 17-2/3 innings over the World Series, Yamamoto had a 1.02 ERA and 15 strikeouts while allowing 10 hits, two runs and two walks.
The Japanese right-hander, who the Dodgers signed for 12 years and $325 million in December 2023, is also the first pitcher with three wins in a World Series since Arizona’s Randy Johnson in 2001.
“I did everything I was supposed to do, and I’m so happy that I was able to win this with these teammates,” said Yamamoto.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
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