Last week, Yoshinobu Yamamoto looked virtually unbeatable in his long-awaited return from the injured list.

During Monday night’s encore at Truist Park, the Japanese right-handed debutant had to be unbeatable.

In all four innings of Yamamoto against the Atlanta Braves, the leadoff man reached base. All four times, they eventually reached third base.

But in a 9-0 Dodgers victory that split the series in four games, Yamamoto avoided both crunches by throwing four scoreless innings, another encouraging sign for his October prospects.

“He wasn’t as sharp a command as his first back, but he threw when he had to,” manager Dave Roberts said. “I just like the way he navigated.”

Yamamoto was not as fit Monday as he was last week in his return from the injury list against the Chicago Cubs, striking out eight batters and allowing just one unearned run in his first start in three months after dealing with a rotator cuff injury.

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Against the Braves, Yamamoto couldn’t replicate his near-perfect fastball command, which contributed to a pair of first-inning walks. He threw more off-speed pitches, routinely leaving himself behind the count. He also averaged just 95-96 mph with his heater, a touch off his adrenaline-fueled return six days earlier, while giving up four hits (three for extra bases).

But every time his back was against the wall, Yamamoto found a way to respond.

“I concentrated on one batter at a time,” Yamamoto said through an interpreter. “And stayed calm.”

With runners on the corners in the first inning, he forced a weak ground ball to end the inning. After both a leadoff double by Sean Murphy in the second inning and a leadoff triple by Ramon Laureano in the fourth, Yamamoto retired the next three batters in order.

The only time the $325 million offseason acquisition needed help came in the third. After a leadoff single by Michael Harris II, Jorge Soler doubled to deep center, setting up Harris to try to score from first. From second, though, Kiké Hernández made a perfect tumbling relay throw to the plate, completing a half frontflip to gun down Harris in a momentum-shifting sequence.

“The throw was unbelievable,” Roberts said. “That’s a tough throw. That’s a tough play.”

At bat, the Dodgers were in full swing, scoring nine runs on just four hits, walking seven and scoring three of the seven baserunners in scoring position.

Miguel Rojas scored in the third inning on a walk after avoiding a double play at second base, stealing third and then catching a wild pitch from Braves starter Max Fried and running the ball home.

Tommy Edman and Rojas both scored in the fifth inning after hitting a double and a single, respectively, to lead off the inning.

The Dodgers then won a six-spot against Atlanta’s bullpen in the seventh inning, playing more small-ball until Freddie Freeman led things off with a three-run home run over the short wall down the left-field line.

The Dodgers (89-61) are 3½ games ahead of second-place San Diego Padres in the National League West. Their magic number to clinch the division title is nine.

But more importantly, it provided a new blueprint for how they could potentially win games in October, a Yamamoto-led model that would almost certainly be necessary for the team to seriously contend for the World Series.

“It’s a boost,” Roberts said of Yamamoto’s return to the club. “He knows how valuable (he is) and what he means to our club. And he’s delivered. So now with these last two starts (he’ll make in the regular season), I feel like we’re on a good footing. We’re almost at the point where we can just let him go.”

Yamamoto also knows his limitations.

He’s still in the rebuilding phase, limited to just 72 pitches on Monday as he tries to rebuild his stamina after his time on the IL.

He’s also been extremely selective with his use of the slider, a pitch that was known to cause him arm problems when he played in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball League. He threw the slider just three times on Monday, instead throwing cutters more often (though he said Monday he didn’t intentionally forgo it).

Before the game, Roberts also confirmed that Yamamoto will not pitch on a regular four-day rest in any of his remaining regular-season starts, continuing the trend of five or more days of rest between starts he was accustomed to in Japan. It is unlikely that Yamamoto, who has not pitched on four days’ rest all season, would do so in the playoffs.

“That’s kind of where we’re at right now,” Roberts said. “We’ve got to figure out how best to keep him fresh, sharp and prepared, number one. And then number two, fill in the blanks. Hell, I’d love to have four guys that can have short rest or regular rest. But it’s just not feasible.”

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The Dodgers’ pitching staff is indeed not where they had hoped at this point in the year.

Tyler Glasnow’s season is over due to a sprained elbow. Gavin Stone himself will almost certainly remain sidelined with shoulder inflammation, though he plans to try to catch again this week. Clayton Kershaw’s status is also unclear as he continues to deal with a toe injury.

But the Dodgers still have Jack Flaherty, their best trade deadline acquisition. They’re bullish on Walker Buehler, a tested postseason pitcher who has looked better in recent weeks. And most of all, they have Yamamoto, who backed up his big return from injury with an equally promising, if not quite as dominant, second act.

“By battling through four innings and coming out of some really bad foul trouble, it probably gave him and us a lot more confidence,” Freeman said. “It’s a good way to end the series and a big confidence boost for everybody here.”

As expected, backup catcher Austin Barnes was placed on the injured list Monday after suffering a broken left big toe the night before. It is the second time in the past two months that Barnes has suffered a broken toe, but the Dodgers are hopeful he can return before the end of the regular season.

Triple-A catcher Hunter Feduccia was called up Monday to take Barnes’ place.

“I’m hoping it’s one of those things, given his role, that if we can calm it down, contain it, we can get him back in 16 days,” Roberts said. “Hopefully it’s not the end of the season for him.”

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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.