Yoshinobu Yamamoto fans nine as Dodgers shut out Cubs

Right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched six scoreless innings and Tommy Edman hit a three-run homer as the Los Angeles Dodgers remained perfect at home this season with a 3-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Friday.

Yamamoto (2-1) gave up two hits and had nine strikeouts and one walk while beating the Cubs for the second time this season. Left-hander Tanner Scott pitched a perfect ninth inning for his fourth save as the Dodgers improved to 7-0 at home with their first shutout of the year.

Los Angeles’ Freddie Freeman scored a run but went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts in his return from the injured list. He missed nine game after aggravating a right ankle injury. Shohei Ohtani finished 0-for-4 and fanned twice.

The Cubs’ offense was held to two hits as Chicago lost consecutive games for the first time since dropping the first two games of the season against the Dodgers last month in Japan. The Cubs were shut out for the first time.

Chicago left-hander Matthew Boyd opened with five scoreless innings in a pitchers’ duel with Yamamoto before faltering in the sixth. Teoscar Hernandez hit a one-out single before Freeman was hit by a pitch. Edman socked a 1-0 changeup into the left field bleachers for a 3-0 lead.

They were the first runs Boyd (1-1) allowed this season following scoreless starts against the Arizona Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres. Boyd gave up three runs on four hits in six innings, with seven strikeouts and three walks.

The Cubs had a prime scoring chance in the fourth inning after Kyle Tucker doubled with one out. Seiya Suzuki singled, and when Tucker stopped at third, Suzuki was caught in a rundown while trying to advance to second and was tagged out. Tucker was stranded at third when Michael Busch struck out.

Right-hander Kirby Yates pitched a scoreless seventh inning for Los Angeles with two strikeouts. Right-hander Blake Treinen followed with a scoreless eighth before Scott set down all three batters he faced in the ninth.

Dodgers pitchers retired the last 10 Cubs batters of the game.