What looked like a night destined for the history books at Camden Yards turned into one of the most dramatic and gut-wrenching collapses the Los Angeles Dodgers have experienced in recent memory. On September 6, 2025, Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto stood just one out away from etching his name alongside legends, needing only a final batter to complete the first no-hitter of the 2025 major league season. Instead, the Baltimore Orioles staged a jaw-dropping, four-run rally in the bottom of the ninth, capped by Emmanuel Rivera’s walk-off single, to snatch a 4-3 victory from the jaws of defeat.
For eight and two-thirds innings, Yamamoto was nothing short of sensational. The 27-year-old right-hander had the Orioles in check, allowing just two baserunners on third-inning walks and striking out 10 batters. His 112 pitches, a career high since moving to the U.S., had Dodgers fans and baseball purists alike on the edge of their seats. As the tension mounted, the only question seemed to be whether Yamamoto would seal the deal and deliver the Dodgers’ 24th no-hitter in franchise history, their first since a combined effort in 2018.
But baseball, as it so often does, had other plans. With two outs in the ninth and the Dodgers clinging to a 3-0 lead, Baltimore’s rookie second baseman Jackson Holliday stepped to the plate. Yamamoto, working with conviction, fired an inside cutter. Holliday, showing poise beyond his years, connected and sent the ball just over the right-center field wall. The no-hit bid was over in a flash, and so too was Yamamoto’s night. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts made the slow walk to the mound, offering words of encouragement to his ace. “I just told him he did a fantastic job and to tip his cap to the fans, because they were cheering for him in that ninth inning,” Roberts said, as both Orioles and Dodgers supporters gave Yamamoto a standing ovation.
Holliday’s home run not only denied Yamamoto a shot at history but also cracked open a door the Orioles would soon kick down. Roberts, mindful of Yamamoto’s high pitch count, turned the game over to reliever Blake Treinen. What followed was a sequence Dodgers fans will want to forget: Treinen allowed a double to Jeremiah Jackson, hit Gunnar Henderson with a pitch, and walked both Ryan Mountcastle and Colton Cowser, forcing in a run to make it 3-2. The pressure was mounting, and the Orioles’ faithful could sense something special brewing.
With the bases loaded and the Dodgers’ lead down to a single run, Roberts summoned closer Tanner Scott, who had already suffered a walk-off loss the previous night. This time, he faced Emmanuel Rivera, who worked the count to 1-1 before lining a fastball into center field. The throw home was off the mark, and two Orioles runners crossed the plate, sending the Camden Yards crowd into a frenzy and the Orioles pouring out of the dugout in celebration.
“It’s hard to recount a game like this, where you feel like there’s so many things where you can get a little bit of momentum, build off a great outing by Yoshinobu, and take that into tomorrow,” Roberts reflected in the aftermath. “And then, obviously, it completely flipped.”
For Yamamoto, the night was a study in both brilliance and heartbreak. “Obviously, it’s really hard to swallow,” he admitted through his interpreter after the game. “But the only thing we can do is we’ve got to get together, put things together, and overcome it.” Catcher Ben Rortvedt, making only his second start for the Dodgers, revealed that Yamamoto had chosen the cutter Holliday hit for the home run. “He called cutter, and I thought it was a good pitch. He had conviction in it, and I think he hit his spot, too. (Holliday) didn’t get all of it, but he got enough to poke it out.”
The loss was especially bitter for the Dodgers, who entered the night on a losing skid and had not held a lead at any point on their recent road trip until this game. The collapse not only continued their struggles but also trimmed their lead atop the National League West to a single game over the surging San Diego Padres. “It’s certainly a wasted opportunity [and] performance, from what Yoshinobu did,” Roberts lamented, underscoring just how much the team had riding on Yamamoto’s outing.
For the Orioles, the victory was a testament to their resilience and flair for the dramatic. Camden Yards, which has seen only one no-hitter in its history—by another Japanese pitcher, Hideo Nomo, in 2001—once again played host to a night of unforgettable baseball. The Orioles’ comeback was powered not just by Holliday’s heroics, but also by timely hitting from Jeremiah Jackson and Emmanuel Rivera, and by their ability to capitalize on Dodgers’ miscues.
The Dodgers’ bullpen, expected to secure a routine win, instead faltered in stunning fashion. Treinen, who has been trusted in high-leverage situations before, shouldered the blame. “You’re paid to be a professional and at least throw strikes, and I didn’t do that. Cost one of the better outings I’ve ever seen in my career with Yama. He deserves better than that. Offense deserves better than that. Just really sucks to be on that end of it. ... That’s a pretty low point for me,” Treinen said candidly.
Meanwhile, Roberts defended his decision to pull Yamamoto at 112 pitches, noting the risk of overextending his ace. “I felt that we pushed him far enough,” Roberts explained. “We gotta be able to get one out.” Unfortunately for the Dodgers, that one out proved elusive.
The Orioles’ four-run ninth marked a remarkable turnaround, especially considering they had not been no-hit since 2015. Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts had helped build the Dodgers’ lead, with Ohtani driving in a run in the third, Betts singling in another in the fifth, and adding an RBI triple in the seventh. Yet, all that early work was undone in the game’s final moments.
Looking ahead, the Dodgers must regroup quickly, with veteran Clayton Kershaw set to take the mound in the series finale against Tomoyuki Sugano. For now, though, the sting of Saturday’s collapse will linger. As Yamamoto and his teammates process a night that swung from near-immortality to heartbreak, the lesson is clear: in baseball, it truly isn’t over until the final out is made.
