Baseball is a game of feel.

While the analytics movement has injected the element of numbers into the game, at the end of the day, players and managers still need to trust what their eyes are telling them.

And there was a perfect example of player and manager doing just that during the Los Angeles Dodgers' 4-3 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium.

Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto had tossed six no-hit innings and, sitting at 90 pitches, came out to pitch the seventh inning. The Dodgers hurler immediately surrendered a leadoff single to the Diamondbacks' Ketel Marte, then after a wild pitch and two outs via ground balls, walked Gabriel Moreno to put runners on first and third with one out.

Given the stakes of the moment and the fact that the Dodgers had lost four straight entering the game, it wouldn't have been surprising to see manager Dave Roberts turn to the bullpen to get out of the jam.

But Roberts, trusting his instincts, locked eyes with Yamamoto from the dugout. The righthander gave him a nod, which Roberts returned.

Here's the cool moment, courtesy of Jacob Brownson on X.

Seeing the exchange, Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior, on the top step of the dugout ready to emerge for a mound visit, thought better of it.

The gut call from both Yamamoto and Roberts paid off. Yamamoto struck out the next batter, Diamondbacks designated hitter Pavin Smith, on six pitches to end the inning and preserve the Dodgers' lead.

While Los Angeles's bullpen went on to surrender the lead in the top of the ninth and 10th innings, the Dodgers mounted a rally in the bottom half of the 10th to earn the win.

Yamamoto ended up not factoring into the decision, but it was his ability to get out of the seventh inning jam that proved crucial in the game's outcome.


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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Dave Roberts, Yoshinobu Yamamoto Shared Cool Moment Without Even Saying a Word.

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