NEW YORK (Interstat) — Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched seven strong innings and the Los Angeles Dodgers erupted for five runs in the eighth inning to defeat the New York Yankees 8-2 on Saturday, July 18, 2026, before a crowd of 43,305 at Yankee Stadium II.

The Dodgers, who won their second straight game in the Bronx after a 2-1 victory Friday, improved to 63-36. The Yankees fell to 54-44.

Yamamoto, who became 10-6, allowed two runs on four hits over seven innings, striking out nine and walking none. Cam Schlittler took the loss, dropping to 9-6, after yielding three earned runs on six hits in 4 1/3 innings with eight strikeouts.

The game began as a pitchers’ duel. Schlittler struck out the side in the first inning, fanning Shohei Ohtani, Andy Pages and Freddie Freeman on swinging strikeouts. Yamamoto matched him with a 1-2-3 bottom of the first, striking out Trent Grisham and getting Ben Rice and Jasson Domínguez on groundouts and popouts.

The Dodgers broke the scoreless tie in the third. Tommy Edman led off with a single to right field. Ohtani followed with a double to right, scoring Edman for a 1-0 lead. After Pages popped out foul, Freeman singled to center, driving in Ohtani to make it 2-0. Mookie Betts grounded into a forceout to end the inning.

The Yankees answered in the fourth. Grisham led off with a home run to right field, his 11th of the season, cutting the deficit to 2-1. Yamamoto then retired the next three hitters, striking out Rice and getting Domínguez and Cody Bellinger on groundouts and strikeouts.

The Dodgers added a run in the fifth. Edman was hit by a pitch to start the inning. Ohtani grounded out to second, moving Edman to second. Pages doubled to right, scoring Edman for a 3-1 lead. Freeman grounded out to second, advancing Pages to third. With two outs, Schlittler was relieved by Tim Hill, who intentionally walked Betts. Max Muncy grounded out to first to end the inning.

Hill pitched 1 1/3 innings of hitless relief, striking out one. Angel Chivilli followed with 1 1/3 hitless innings, striking out three. The Dodgers managed only a walk in the sixth and were retired in order in the seventh.

The game turned decisively in the eighth. Schlittler had been replaced by Hill after 4 1/3 innings, and Chivilli pitched the sixth and seventh. With the Dodgers leading 3-1, Yankees reliever Jake Cousins began the eighth. Betts struck out swinging to start the inning. Muncy then drew a walk. Kyle Tucker singled to right, putting runners on first and third. Teoscar Hernández hit a ground-rule double to right, scoring Muncy and moving Tucker to third, making it 4-1. Dalton Rushing walked to load the bases. Tommy Edman singled to right, driving in Tucker and Hernández and moving Rushing to second, making it 6-1. Ohtani singled to right, scoring Rushing and sending Edman to third, making it 7-1. Pages was hit by a pitch to load the bases again. Freeman hit a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Edman for an 8-1 lead. Betts walked to reload the bases, but Muncy grounded out sharply to first to end the inning.

The Dodgers sent 12 batters to the plate in the eighth, collecting five hits and drawing two walks and a hit by pitch. The five-run inning was the largest single-inning outburst of the game for either team.

The Yankees got one run back in the bottom of the eighth. Jazz Chisholm Jr. led off with a double to center. Anthony Volpe singled to left, scoring Chisholm to make it 8-2. Ryan McMahon then grounded into a double play, first baseman Freeman to shortstop Betts to Freeman, erasing the threat. Ali Sánchez lined out to left to end the inning.

Yamamoto left after seven innings, having thrown 98 pitches. The Dodgers’ bullpen handled the eighth and ninth. The Yankees went down quietly in the ninth: Grisham flied out to center, Rice flied out to center, and Domínguez struck out swinging to end the game.

Key performances included Grisham, who homered and drove in a run, and Volpe, who singled and drove in a run. Chisholm doubled and scored. For the Dodgers, Edman had two hits, two runs scored, and two RBIs. Ohtani doubled, singled, drove in a run, and scored. Hernández doubled and drove in a run. Pages doubled and scored.

The Dodgers outhit the Yankees 10-4. Neither team committed an error.

The game was the second of a three-game series, with the finale set for Sunday. The Dodgers then travel to Philadelphia for a three-game series starting Monday, while the Yankees return home to host Pittsburgh on Monday.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of New York Yankees 6, Los Angeles Dodgers 5. Interstat’s ELO system gave the Dodgers a 53.40 percent probability to win. The Dodgers were installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The total score of 10 went under the over-under line of 9.