Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the Los Angeles Dodgers' starting pitcher, made a strong debut at Dodger Stadium on Saturday night against the St. Louis Cardinals. Despite a rough outing in South Korea the previous week, Yamamoto pitched five scoreless innings, allowing only two hits.

The 25-year-old right-hander showcased his resilience by bouncing back from a 35-minute rain delay. He struck out three batters in the first inning and allowed only one hit through the first four innings before the rain.

In the fifth inning, Yamamoto gave up a double to Alec Burleson but ended his outing by retiring Brandon Crawford on a flyout. He threw 45 of 68 pitches for strikes, averaging 95.3 mph for his fastballs. Yamamoto also threw a variety of other pitches, including splitters, curveballs, and cutters.

The Dodgers gave Yamamoto a lead in the fifth inning with consecutive RBI singles by Freddie Freeman and Will Smith. Daniel Hudson relieved Yamamoto in the sixth inning.