Mookie Betts error ends Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s bid for perfect game, consecutive batters retired record

CHICAGO – Yoshinobu Yamamoto sauntered through the Los Angeles Dodgers clubhouse Saturday morning before a day that would be etched in baseball history. He popped his head into the manager’s office, said hello, and exuded a calm that would last through what was one out shy of the greatest stretch of consecutive retired batters in Major League Baseball history.

Mookie Betts’ error on a ground ball from Chicago White Sox second baseman Chase Meidroth kept Yamamoto from matching Yusmeiro Petit’s record of retiring 46 consecutive batters — the longest such stretch in the majors since at least 1920 — and snapped Yamamoto’s bid for the 25th perfect game in MLB history.

A batter later, Jacob Gonzalez grounded out to end Yamamoto’s eighth no-hit inning of the afternoon. When they returned to the dugout, Yamamoto greeted Betts with a pat on the rear.

Then came another cruel flashback, as White Sox outfielder Tristan Peters sent Yamamoto’s second pitch of the ninth inning and 105th pitch of the day into the seats for a home run to keep Yamamoto from his first no-hitter in the United States.

This story will be updated.