Yesterday the Dodgers announced that pitchers Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki would start the two-game series against the Cubs in Tokyo. Yamamoto, from Okayama, and Sasaki, from Rikuzentakata are both from Japan and both came to the States as high-profile international free agents.

Imagine warming up in the outfield on a backfield at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz., when all of a sudden the Budweiser Clydedales go racing by. That is wha

Yamamoto compiled a 3.00 ERA (129 ERA+) and a 4.77 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 18 starts during his rookie season. Sasaki, meanwhile, is entering his "rookie" season after joining the Dodgers over the winter as an international amateur free agent.