There are old-school pitchers’ duels. And then there is what unfolded at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday night.

The Dodgers beat the New York Mets 2-1, taking their first and only lead when Kyle Tucker –– in a breakthrough moment after his recent slump –– lofted a bloop RBI single off Mets reliever Brooks Raley in the bottom of the eighth inning.

The real story, though, was the dueling brilliance of starting pitchers Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Nolan McLean; a back-and-forth, step-for-step, exhilaratingly boring masterclass between the reigning World Series MVP and early-season Rookie of the Year favorite.

“I mean, there was just nothing happening,” manager Dave Roberts quipped. “We haven’t seen McLean up close, I don’t recall. But, man, he’s special. And our guy matched him.”

Indeed, in a game that saw the two right-handers combine for 14 ⅔ innings, 15 strikeouts and only two runs allowed, Yamamoto and McLean gave each other no margin for error.

Both allowed runs in the first; Yamamoto on a leadoff home run to Francisco Lindor, McLean on a run-scoring Freddie Freeman grounder following a one-out walk from Tucker and a double from Will Smith.

After that, though, it was nothing but zeroes. Literally.

Over the next five innings, neither pitcher allowed another hit –– let alone another run.

“They were both awesome,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “Yamamoto was pretty nasty. But Nolan was pretty nasty too. They went head-to-head, inning after inning, batter after batter, pitch after pitch.”

McLean retired 14 batters in a row at one point, mixing a “wiffle ball” sweeper, as Roberts described it, with a relentless onslaught of fastballs, cutters and equally deceptive sinkers.

Yamamoto recorded 20-straight outs after Lindor’s leadoff homer, leaning heavily on his trademark splitter while also fastballs with his typically pristine command.

Not until the end of their outings did either pitcher ever face any real stress.

The Mets (7-11) put two aboard in the seventh, after Bo Bichette hit a two-out double and Francisco Alvarez drew a walk. However, Yamamoto stranded them, snapping off a wicked splitter that fanned Brett Baty for an inning-ending strikeout.

McLean faced his own danger in the bottom of the inning, after Max Muncy hit a two-out single, but also got through it by fanning Andy Pages.

That marked the end of McLean’s night, a seven-inning, one-run, eight-strikeout gem.

Yamamoto kept going, meanwhile, getting two outs in the eighth before back-to-back base hits finally chased him from the game.

“It was kind of vintage Yamamoto,” Roberts said, noting the Opening Day starter had looked slightly off in two solid-but-unspectacular starts leading up to Tuesday. “Just the command. The split. The breaking ball when he needed it … Yeah, this was special. And it’s kind of who he is right now.”

Yamamoto received a huge roar from a crowd of 48,138 as he exited with 104 pitches. Then, he watched from the dugout as reliever Blake Treinen preserved his 7-⅔ inning, one-run, seven-strikeout stat line, with Luis Robert Jr. going down a called third strike in an at-bat that featured ample ABS challenge drama (including a failed appeal by Robert on the last pitch).

The Dodgers (13-4) took the lead on Tucker’s go-ahead flare to shallow left field in the next half-inning, capitalizing on a small-ball rally set up by a leadoff walk from Miguel Rojas and a sacrifice bunt from Santiago Espinal.

Fittingly, that meant both Yamamoto and McLean finished the night with no-decisions.

After all, while one of the teams always had to lose the game, neither of them deserved to after such dominant performances.

What it means

The Dodgers might have the majors’ best offense to this point of the season.

But their rotation is proving to be an equally dangerous weapon.

The last two nights alone, Yamamoto and Justin Wrobleski have combined for 15 ⅔ innings of one-run ball. And now, the team’s starters have a combined ERA of 3.26 –– one that would be even lower if not for the early struggles of Roki Sasaki and Emmet Sheehan.

Even more encouraging: The group has also combined for 96 ⅔ innnigs to this point, one shy of the Miami Marlins for most in the National League.

Who’s hot

Yamamoto had been plenty good in his first three starts this season, going six innings in each of them with a 2.50 ERA.

Tuesday, however, was the first time he tapped back into the dominant form he displayed during last year’s postseason, carving up the Mets lineup with a splitter-heavy game plan.

Lindor’s leadoff homer came on a 2-0 fastball in the zone. After that, Yamamoto went on the attack. He used a career-high 42 splitters, and generated whiffs half the time the Mets swung at it (12 of 24). The rest of his six-pitch arsenal only threw them further off balance, leading to a start that further cementing his place as one of the sport’s premier arms.

Who’s not

On Tuesday? Edwin Diaz.

At least, not when it mattered.

After getting three days off amid an ongoing battle to regain his normal velocity, the team’s $69 million closer was tasked with throwing a pregame bullpen session on Tuesday afternoon.

Roberts described it as a final check-mark for Díaz, confirming the team’s belief that his velocity drop was not injury-related.

But, it meant that when a save situation arose in the ninth, the Dodgers had to look elsewhere for the final three outs.

Their answer was Alex Vesia, who pitched a 1-2-3 frame to record his second save this week.

Díaz, meanwhile, should be back online to pitch in Wednesday’s series finale, Roberts said, just so long as he rebounds well from Tuesday afternoon’s pregame activity. 

Up next

The Dodgers wrap up this series, and homestand, on Wednesday against the Mets. Shohei Ohtani (1-0, 0.00 ERA) will make his third pitching start of the year for the Dodgers. Right-hander Clay Holmes (2-1, 1.50 ERA) goes for the Mets.