Dodgers drop Padres in historic Japanese pitchers’ duel to advance in MLB playoffs

Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched five brilliant innings and Los Angeles homered twice in a 2-0 victory over the San Diego Padres on Friday that propelled the Dodgers into the National League Championship Series.

Two days after fending off elimination, the Dodgers completed a 3-2 series victory over the Padres in the best-of-five National League Division Series and will host the New York Mets in Game 1 of the best-of-seven NLCS on Sunday.

Yamamoto came out on top in a historic duel with San Diego hurler Yu Darvish — the contest was the first MLB postseason match-up between two Japanese-born starting pitchers.