Kevin Gausman dominated everyone but Will Smith, who provided two big swings that backed Yoshinobu Yamamoto and helped power the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 2 of the World Series.
Freddie Freeman’s two-out double in the first inning led to the Dodgers taking an early lead as Smith followed with an RBI single. However, Gausman then proceeded to retire 16 batters in a row to get through six innings with the game tied.
Gausman broke from his traditional pitch selection and leaned on the fastball to flummox the Dodgers. That’s not to say there weren’t opportunities. Gausman left several pitches in the strike zone, but Dodgers batters failed to take advantage.
That changed in the seventh inning when Smith pulled an inside heater into the second deck in left field for a go-ahead solo home run that snapped Gausman’s streak at 17 consecutive batters retired.
Max Muncy then provided some breathing room by going the opposite way for a two-out solo homer that chased Gausman from the game.
The Dodgers scored two more runs in the eighth inning on a wild pitch and Smith beating out a potential double play. That gave Smith his third RBI of the game, tying a postseason career high.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto complete game
The initial run support was more than enough for Yamamoto who was masterful after laboring in the first inning and not retiring the side in order until the fourth.
Toronto manufactured a run in the third inning, though Yamamoto then retired 17 batters in a row to get through the eighth inning. Yamamoto struck out the side in the eighth and was at 93 pitches up to that point.
Yamamoto remained in the game for the ninth and retired the side in order to run his final tally to the final 20 batters set down.
Yamamoto’s performance was the type of effort Muncy indicated was still possible even after his brilliant complete game against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Prior to Yamamoto, Orel Hershiser was the last Dodgers pitcher with consecutive complete games in the postseason. Hershiser accomplished the feat three times in a row in 1988, beginning with Game 7 in the National League Championship Series and continuing with Games 2 and 5 in the World Series.
Yamamoto additionally became the first pitcher with consecutive complete games in a single postseason since Curt Schilling in 2001, when he had three in a row.
Yamamoto’s complete game was the first in a World Series since Johnny Cueto in 2015, and he’s the first with multiple such performances in one postseason since Madison Bumgarner in 2014.
Dodgers World Series history
Already looking to buck MLB postseason history when a team that swept the LCS is facing one who needed seven games to advance, the Dodgers do have some success when falling behind in the Fall Classic.
Years the Dodgers have lost Game 1 of the World Series but gone on to win the title are 1955, 1959, 1965 and 1981.
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