Things didn’t start so well for Yoshi as he was staring at runners on first and third with no outs in the bottom of the very first inning. Yamamoto somehow managed to get out of that inning unscathed. After a rocky third inning where he hit George Springer with a pitch and then allowed a hit to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. followed by a sacrifice fly from Alejandra Kirk, Yoshi turned up the heat and did not allow a hit for the remainder of the game.
Meanwhile, Will Smith went 2 for 4 at with 3 RBI’s and a Home Run. That dinger in the seventh inning was followed by Max Muncy who also went yard in the same inning.
On his performance at the plate Smith said, “I’m trying not to do too much. Just trying to move the ball and help this offense score runs. You can let emotions get the best of you and try to hit a homer every time or be the hero, and it doesn’t always work out. So, I am just happy to put together good at bats, swing at the right pitch, and move it forward.”
The Toronto crowd that almost blew the roof off the stadium the night before, sat in stunned silence. It wasn’t going to get much better for Blue Jay fans as the game progressed.
Toronto pitcher Kevin Gausman was pitching a great game, retiring 17 in a row before Smith hit that homer in the seventh. The wheels came off the bus for Gausman, and he was yanked after the Muncy home run.
Hits from Andy Pages and Shohei Ohtani would help The Dodgers tack on a couple insurance runs in the eighth inning, bringing the score to 5-1. Toronto was unable to produce any offense in the final two innings and with that, the series is all even, and the next three games will be on the Dodgers home turf.
Yamamoto’s numbers speak for themselves. Over nine innings he threw 105 pitches, struck out eight, walked not a single batter, and allowed only one run. Simply put, Yoshi was dominant.
“To be honest, I was not thinking I can complete the game because my pitch count racked up kind of quickly,” Yamamoto said. “But I’m very happy I completed the game. I just adjusted as the game moved on after the whole first inning because it was two runners on bases.”
When asked about his thoughts on the Yamamoto performance, Dodger Skipper Dave Roberts answered, “Outstanding! Uber competitive and special! Yeah, he was just locked in tonight. One of the things he said before the series was, ‘losing is not an option’, and he had that look tonight.”
The last time a Dodger pitcher threw a complete game in the World Series was 1988 when some guy named Orel Hershiser was closing out the Oakland A’s in game five of memorable game and series.
Tyler Glasnow will get the start for the Dodgers on Monday night and an old friend in Max Scherzer will be on the hill for the Blue Jays.
Photo Courtesy of MLB.com
