Yoshinobu Yamamoto was inches away from perfection. 

Yamamoto struck out seven hitters while throwing 109 pitches over 8 1/3 innings. The Dodgers ace came four outs from a perfect game and three from a no-hitter, while leading the Dodgers to a 7-1 victory against the White Sox on Saturday. 

He was through 7 2/3 innings when White Sox infielder Chase Meidroth hit a ground ball at Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts, who failed to field it cleanly, allowing Meidroth to reach base on an error. Yamamoto still took a no-hitter into the ninth inning, but conceded a solo home run to Tristan Peters, the first batter of the frame. 

After forcing Edgar Quero to fly out to center field, Yamamoto was replaced with left-handed reliever Alex Vesia, who finished out the game. 

Before Betts’ error, Yamamoto was on track for the first perfect game since New York Yankees’ starter Domingo German in June 2023. Then Peters’ home run prevented Yamamoto from pitching the first complete-game no-hitter since his now-teammate Blake Snell did so as a member of the San Francisco Giants on August 8, 2024, against the Cincinnati Reds.

Dodgers legend Clayton Kershaw remains the latest pitcher to toss a complete-game no-hitter for the franchise when he completed the feat against the Colorado Rockies in 2014. The Dodgers also pitched a combined no-hitter against the San Diego Padres on May 4, 2018.

Sandy Koufax remained the only Dodgers pitcher with a perfect game, which came on Sept. 9, 1965. 

Yamamoto has already etched his place in Dodgers’ history books as he won World Series MVP when the Dodgers took down the Toronto Blue Jays last October. While he didn’t make more history on Saturday, Yamamoto continued to show his stellar form. 

After starting the season with a 3-4 record through nine starts, he’s found the win column in his last four outings. Over that span of 28 2/3 innings, he’s allowed just 14 hits and three earned runs, while striking out 24 batters. He’s also increased his total to eight quality starts.