"Straight Talk" is a regular feature in which The Sporting Tribune's John E. Gibson offers a full translation of media availability with Dodgers Japanese stars Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki. He will also help translate when Lakers star Rui Hachimura and LA Galaxy captain Maya Yoshida are asked questions in Japanese.
The job of interpreters in the heat of the moment is difficult without the ability to write down questions and answers and re-hear responses for proper context. That's where John comes in to help. John currently works as a Japanese-English interpreter and covered pro baseball in Japan for about 20 years. His experience as a sports reporter includes stints at The Orange County Register, The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, The Redlands Daily Facts, The Yomiuri Shimbun’s English newspaper in Tokyo and The Epoch Times.
LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers' Yoshinobu Yamamoto battles his control over five innings, allowing four runs on five hits and four walks with four Ks, but comes away with no decision after host L.A. rallies for three runs in the ninth inning for a 5-4 walk-off victory over the Miami Marlins on Monday night. Yamamoto was one out away from qualifying for a victory in the fifth inning (with the Dodgers up 2-1) but surrendered a three-run home run to Liam Hicks.
Q: Yoshi, first, what did you think about the end of this game, and just how you were able to see this offense find a way to come back and win one?
Yamamoto: Today, we really won this game because of my teammates, so I just appreciate them.
Q: When you look at just how your stuff was playing, it seemed like where you maybe were struggling was with just like finishing off guys. How did you find, especially when you were in two-strike counts, just kind of managing navigating through their lineup?
Yamamoto: So, the subtle areas of my control — I feel like I had a good feel for the control on some of my pitches, but some of the differences made some of the pitches a ball, and I unfortunately ended up walking guys. So, I think there were both good and bad moments out there with my control.
Q: Was the command particularly a struggle for you out of the stretch today?
Yamamoto: On the contrary, when I was in the stretch and was trying to pitch away to the left side, I was able get a feel for those pitches that I haven't been able to find all season. In the end, I had a whole bunch of walks, so that wasn't great. But I came away from today with good sense about positive feelings I had about things. However, I walked too many guys and that was a negative.