Yoshinobu Yamamoto's perfect game bid fell short with four outs to go; he was hit again in the ninth inning, and after his dream was shattered, he sighed, "Baseball is really hard."

The Los Angeles Dodgers were on the road against the Chicago White Sox, and their Japanese ace, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, narrowly missed a perfect game. He had retired the first 22 batters without allowing a runner, needing just four more outs to become the 25th pitcher ever to throw a perfect game and the first Japanese to achieve the feat. Unfortunately, a teammate's fielding error first cost him the perfect game, and then in the bottom of the ninth, a solo home run ended his no-hitter as well. Nevertheless, Yamamoto still delivered a quality start of 8.1 innings, allowing only one hit and one run, leading the Dodgers to a 7-1 victory and securing his seventh win of the season.

From the start, Yamamoto demonstrated dominance, with his fastball reaching up to 98.3 mph (about 158 km/h), and he effectively suppressed the White Sox lineup using a splitter, slider, and cutter. Through the first seven innings, he had not allowed a hit or a walk, and had struck out seven batters.

In the bottom of the eighth, with only four outs needed for a perfect game and two outs already recorded, White Sox batter Chase Meidroth hit a ground ball toward shortstop. This seemingly routine grounder was misjudged and dropped by shortstop Mookie Betts, allowing the White Sox to get their first baserunner of the game and ending the perfect game bid.

Despite that, Yamamoto still took the mound in the bottom of the ninth with a no-hitter intact. However, facing the first batter, Tristan Peters, a 96.6 mph fastball that was a bit too centered was driven into a solo home run to right field, ending the no-hit bid. Yamamoto then recorded the next out before being pulled. He threw 109 pitches (74 strikes) over 8.1 innings, with the only hit allowed being that home run, resulting in one earned run. The Dodgers still won 7-1, and Yamamoto earned his seventh win of the season.

This was the second time Yamamoto has come close to a no-hitter in MLB only to fall short. Last September against the Baltimore Orioles, with two outs in the ninth inning, he was hit by a home run from Jackson Holliday, barely missing a no-hitter.

Although he missed the record again, Yamamoto still posted incredible numbers. In his previous start against the Angels, he retired 22 consecutive batters starting from the last out of the first inning. In this game, he retired the first 23 White Sox batters in a row, giving him a total of 45 consecutive batters retired across two starts. This ties the second-longest streak in MLB history held by former White Sox ace Mark Buehrle, and is just one shy of the record of 46 set by former Giants pitcher Yusmeiro Petit in 2014.

After the game, speaking about his near-perfect outing, Yamamoto said that he has been feeling good lately, which allowed him to take the mound with confidence and focus on attacking the strike zone aggressively. As for having his no-hit hopes crushed by a home run in the ninth inning for the second consecutive year, Yamamoto smiled wryly and said, "Following last year, this year it was also broken in the ninth inning. Indeed, baseball is really hard." However, he emphasized that he will not be discouraged and will continue to work hard, hoping to one day complete a full game.

Regarding the error by Betts, Yamamoto said, "That pitch had already made the hitter uncomfortable, but there was a slightly irregular bounce, so there's not much to say about it."

Catcher Dalton Rushing also commented, "From my perspective, that bounce was indeed difficult to handle. It wasn't an easy fielding opportunity, and in the end, it wasn't that play that made the no-hitter disappear, so nobody will blame him."

Betts felt he could have handled it better. "I should have caught the ball at a higher point," he said. "I knew what was happening on the field (the perfect game bid), but I didn't feel any pressure. I won't make any excuses; I simply didn't help." He also praised Yamamoto: "The whole world knows how great he was today, and he proved it again today."