Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s shutout at Wrigley was karma for Cubs fans

They say every cloud has a silver lining; in that same vein, every dropped series has a highlight or two for the losing team. On Sunday, during a rough 8-1 loss to the Cubs, the Dodgers could at least point to a two-hit day for Shohei Ohtani, which marked his first triple of the season and LA's lone run on his double. The Dodgers left Wrigleyville with only one win sandwiched between two losses.

LA's bats stayed frustratingly quiet in those last two games, with their penchant for not hitting with runners in scoring position coming back in full force. However, Game 2 featured a masterclass from Yoshinobu Yamamoto, still having to make up for his Seoul Series Game 2 blight.

The entire weekend was threatened by dark clouds and Game 3 was even delayed by three hours because of rain. On Saturday before Game 2, they managed to start on time, but the tarp was down before things kicked off.

Yamamoto was on the field the morning of his start, tossing from the mound, and he caught some flack from Cubs fans for being on the tarp with metal spikes on, who called it "disrespectful behavior." The outrage was mostly funny because of how outsized it was, and it got even funnier when he proceeded to dominate Chicago's hitters.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto dominates Cubs hitters after catching heat from fans for walking on Wrigley's tarp with spikes on

In his third start, Yamamoto pitched five innings and only gave up three hits and no runs while striking out eight batters to put the first win of his major league career in the books. He adjusted his glove position and some corresponding mechanics after Seoul (subscription required), which has clearly worked wonders on his last two starts. The party line for Dodgers haters — anything that sounds like "You're giving $300 million to this man?" — is so overplayed at this point it's becoming exhausting. An adjustment period was always to be expected, and aside from Seoul, he seems to be adjusting rather incredibly.

After the game, Mookie Betts pulled Yamamoto from the media scrum for a celebratory beer shower in the Cubs' visiting clubhouse. Cubs fans would probably consider that disrespectful too, but the Dodgers probably couldn't hear them over the celebrations.