In the NLCS, Los Angeles Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto threw the MLB postseason’s first complete game in eight years. In the World Series on Saturday, he threw the MLB postseason’s first complete game in 11 days.
Behind another dominant performance from their best pitcher all season, the Dodgers shook off a one-sided Game 1 with a 5-1 win in Game 2 to tie the series 1-1 as it heads to Los Angeles. Game 3 is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET on Monday at Dodger Stadium.
Game 2 saw the two teams send their best pitchers of the regular season to the mound and they both lived up to the billing. Yamamoto and Kevin Gausman went blow-for-blow, both shaking off an early run with a double-digit streak of retired batters.
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It was Gausman who blinked first. After putting down 17 consecutive batters, Will Smith hit a ball 404 feet to the second deck to break a 1-1 tie.
Max Muncy followed that up two batters later with another homer, and that was it for Gausman. The Dodgers added another two runs in the eighth inning against the Blue Jays’ bullpen.
Meanwhile, Yamamoto just kept dealing.
A Blue Jays offense that has stomped pitcher after pitcher this postseason couldn’t figure out his six-pitch mix, and he dominated more and more as the game went on. After allowing his only run in the third inning, Yamamoto put down 20 straight batters.
His final line: nine innings, four hits, one earned run, zero walks and eight strikeouts on 105 pitches. It was ace stuff, from an ace. It was why the Dodgers gave him $325 million before his first MLB pitch, because they and most other teams knew just how good his stuff was.
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It was the first complete game in the World Series since Johnny Cueto did it for the Kansas City Royals in 2015, and it was the first time a pitcher threw back-to-back complete games since Curt Schilling in 2001 with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Behind the plate for it was Smith, who drove in runs on two of his other plate appearances. Los Angeles’ battery singlehandedly won it this game.
Dodgers grab momentum as World Series heads to Los Angeles
This was always the plan for the Dodgers. An offense that led the National League in homers this season combined with an all-time starting pitcher run to hide a suspect bullpen. It will be up to Tyler Glasnow to keep that going in Game 3, as former Dodger Max Scherzer takes the mound for the Blue Jays.
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As for Toronto, the good vibes from Game 1 are now in short supply. Its offense did its thing against Blake Snell and a couple members of the Dodgers’ bullpen, but now it has to head to Chavez Ravine for three straight games, in which it will face Glasnow, Shohei Ohtani and Snell again, and Snell is the kind of pitcher who can go from struggling to dominating at the flip of a switch.
Scherzer got the job done in Game 4 of the ALCS against the Seattle Mariners, but this Dodgers offense is a very different animal. We’ll see what happens on Monday.
Follow along with Yahoo Sports for live updates, highlights and more from Game 2 of the 2025 World Series:
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Varsho pops out to Muncy, and that’s it for Game 2.
Another complete game masterpiece from Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who allowed just one run, with zero walks and eight strikeouts on 104 pitches.
There will be a Game 5 in this World Series. Game 3 is Monday in L.A.
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Kirk hit one 101 mph to Justin Dean in center, and he made a nice play to grab out No. 2.
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Vlad grounds out to Freeman at first, and that’s one down.
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Yamamoto is going for his second straight complete game in this postseason after a gem against the Brewers in the NLCS.
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Braydon Fisher gets three quick outs, and the top of the ninth is over.
The Blue Jays are down to their final three chances. Guerrero, Kirk and Varsho are due up.
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Muncy leads off with a walk, marking his second time on base tonight, and the Dodgers have a ninth-inning baserunner.
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Jack Baer
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Jack Baer
Yoshinobu Yamamoto strikes out the side in the eighth, and the Dodgers are three outs from putting this away. He’s at 93 pitches, and you have to imagine he’s allowed to finish this unless Toronto gets multiple baserunners in the ninth.
This is ace stuff, from an ace.
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Jack Baer
It really looked like Andres Gimenez had the out at home, but he decided to try to end the inning instead.
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Jack Baer
Teoscar Hernández continues a rough night with a strikeout to end the inning. Time for the Blue Jays’ offense to wake up against Yamamoto or head to L.A. with the series tied.
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Jack Baer
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Jack Baer
Will Smith hits a potential double-play ball and Andres Gimenez chooses to go for second rather than try to get the runner at home. Toronto gets the out at second, but Smith beats the ball to first. The Dodgers now have a four-run lead for Yoshinobu Yamamoto to protect.
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Jack Baer
Freeman takes another ball, and the Jays intentionally walk him. Will Smith comes up with the bases loaded, still one out.
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Jack Baer
Jeff Hoffman’s first pitch to Freddie Freeman is a slider in the dirt, which gets past Alejandro Kirk for another Dodgers run. It looked like that ball hit Freeman’s foot too, but he doesn’t argue it.
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Jack Baer
And now Mookie Betts draws a walk to load the bases with one out. That’ll do it for Louis Varland, as Toronto brings in top reliever Jeff Hoffman to prevent Freddie Freeman from expanding this lead.
You might recall Freeman recording a big hit with the bases loaded on this date last year.
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Jack Baer
And then Pages nearly wipes out that hit. Shohei Ohtani hit a broken bat single to right field, and Pages was looking at third base before getting the stop sign. He was slow to go back to second and nearly got caught by a laser from Addison Barger.
The Blue Jays challenge the call, but it’s confirmed. Still, a near disaster for a player who entered this game as a walking disaster on offense.
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Jack Baer
Andy Pages has a base hit! A single on a grounder up the middle improves him to 4-for-42 this postseason.
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Jack Baer
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Jack Baer
Yoshinobu Yamamoto puts down his 14th batter in a row to end the seventh inning. He’s at 79 pitches after another efficient frame.
Hypothetical: You’re Dave Roberts. You have a two-run lead going into the ninth inning. How many pitches does Yamamoto need to have thrown for you to seriously consider putting Roki Sasaki in?
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