TAMPA, Fla. — Yoshinobu Yamamoto, coming off his latest start in which he tossed 7 strong innings of one-run ball against the Cincinnati Reds, follows that up in Florida on Sunday afternoon against the Tampa Bay Rays with 5 2/3 shutout innings en route to the Dodgers securing the 3-0 shutout and securing the series win. 

Yamamoto improves to 10-7 in 22 games thus far and drops his season ERA to 2.5, which ranks him first among Dodgers pitchers and ranks sixth for qualified pitchers in the MLB. 

Both teams remained scoreless until the sixth as Freddie Freeman led off the inning with a leadoff single, and Michael Conforto followed that up with a walk, putting runners on first and second with one out and Andy Pages up to the plate. Pages would deliver on a 1-1 count and smack a 106 mph RBI single down the line at third to put the Dodgers up 1-0. 

That RBI single by Pages was the first Dodgers run scored since the sixth inning of Friday’s game.  

Freeman would smack an RBI single of his own in the seventh and end his day going 3-5. In his last seven games, Freeman has been the Dodgers’ hottest hitter, producing a slashline of .414/.469/.690. 

Mookie Betts, despite his recent struggles, provided some insurance for the Dodgers’ offense, hitting a sacrifice fly in the ninth. The Los Angeles bullpen took care of the rest, including newcomer Brock Stewart, who had a scoreless inning in his Dodgers debut, and Ben Casparius closed out the ninth after Blake Treinen had a spotty inning. 

Despite the 3-0 win, the Dodgers held their breath in the fifth inning as Tommy Edman aggravated his right ankle after rounding first base on a single. Edman re-aggravated the same right ankle that put him on the injured list in May, and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts hinted in the postgame presser at the idea that Edman will most likely end up on the injured list. 

It comes at a formidable time as Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy has been rehabbing with Triple-A OKC for the past couple of games to try and find his footing after landing on the IL with a bone bruise. Muncy’s previous rehab appearance showed great signs, especially at the plate, going 3-3 with an RBI. 

With Edman facing a potential IL stint, Muncy is on the horizon to return to Los Angeles just in time for the next home stand.Â