I mean, there is some data we have, but some, a lot of it is just how he's feeling, he understands his body,” Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior said.

Yamamoto allows two runs on three hits over six innings in a 7-2 win. Shohei Ohtani leads off the game with a home run for the second day in a row.

Shohei Ohtani homers on the second pitch of the game and faces hitters for the first time since elbow surgery in a pregame session, but the Dodgers manage just five more hits in 3-1 loss.

First pitch was set for 7 p.m. local time for Sunday's series finale between the Dodgers and Mets. But there was a much-anticipated show before the show, so to speak, more than four hours before the players took the field.

Ohtani advanced from the 35 pitches he tossed in his previous bullpen session on the same day that the Dodgers activated lefthanded pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who made his season debut against the Angels.