Yamamoto Dials Up a Gem, Dodgers Even the Series Beating Blue Jays in Game 2 at Rogers Centre

Yamamoto Steals the Show as Dodgers Drop the Hammer on Blue Jays in Game 2

TORONTO – If Game 1 was the Jays’ wild ride, then Game 2 was all about calm, control, and cold-blooded precision—all courtesy of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the Japanese ace who put the “World” in World Series on Saturday night.

In front of a roaring Rogers Centre crowd hoping for another chapter of October magic, Yamamoto painted a masterpiece—a complete-game four-hitter that shut the door on Toronto and swung this series back to even. The Dodgers’ 5-1 win felt like a message: we’re not done yet.

🎯 No Bullpen Needed—Yamamoto’s Got This

In an era of bullpen-by-committee, Yamamoto went old school, retiring the final 20 batters he faced, allowing just one run, striking out eight, and walking zero. He became the first pitcher to throw back-to-back complete games in the postseason since Curt Schilling in 2001.

“Today’s game, we had to win,” Yamamoto said through his interpreter. “So that’s just how I treated this game.”

He treated it like a title fight—and he was the one left standing.

Even Max Muncy, who’s launched his fair share of postseason homers, showed respect. After the final out, he hand-delivered the game ball to Yamamoto at the mound. No toss. No flare. Just a moment of pure recognition.

💣 Back-to-Back Blasts Flip the Script

Up until the seventh inning, Kevin Gausman was matching Yamamoto pitch-for-pitch. After giving up an early RBI single to Will Smith, he settled in and retired 17 straight Dodgers.

But baseball doesn’t wait for perfection. On a 3-2 pitch in the seventh, Smith jumped on an inside fastball, sending it soaring just inside the left-field foul pole and into the second deck. Two batters later, Muncy did the same—oppo taco into the Jays bullpen, almost the exact spot Joe Carter’s ’93 walk-off landed.

The score went from 1-1 to 3-1 in a heartbeat. And with Yamamoto dealing, that was more than enough.

“Two good pitches to two really good hitters,” Gausman said postgame. “That was the difference.”

⚾ Rogers Centre Brought the Fire, But Dodgers Brought the Ice

The Jays opened the night with a blast from the past—Joe Carter on the mound, reliving his iconic walk-off from 1993. But by the time Game 2 was over, it was L.A.’s bats doing the damage, and Yamamoto shutting down every attempt at a Blue Jays comeback.

Even John Schneider had to tip his cap to the 25-year-old ace:

“He made it hard for us to make him work. He was in the zone, the split was in and out of the zone. It was a really good performance by him.”

🔥 Pitchers’ Duel with an Exclamation Point

This wasn’t your average Game 2. Both starters—aces in every sense—battled deep into the game, but the difference came down to execution in crunch time. While Gausman blinked ever so slightly, Yamamoto just locked in harder.

Slider. Splitter. Curve. Four-seamer. Cutter. Sinker. Yamamoto threw the kitchen sink at Toronto’s lineup—and everything danced.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers piled on two more insurance runs off Louis Varland in the eighth, but they didn’t need them. Yamamoto struck out the side in the eighth, came back for the ninth, and put a period on the most dominant performance of the series so far.

📊 Final Score: Dodgers 5, Blue Jays 1

Series Tied 1-1
Game 3 Monday, 8 ET/5 PT on FOX

📍 What’s Next for the Jays?

• Jays head to Los Angeles for Game 3 with questions about their bats and bullpen.

• Yamamoto’s dominance means Toronto needs a response—fast.

• Blue Jays will likely turn to José Berríos or Chris Bassitt to regain momentum on the road.

“He had that look tonight,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said postgame.

It was a look that may haunt Blue Jays hitters for the rest of this Series.

👀 Series Snapshot:

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