Will Smith looked to left field, then turned to light Dodgers dugout screaming.
Max Muncy looked to left field, then turned to calm the stands with a finger to his lips.
Two batters, two reactions, one saved. World Series.
Destruction after 17 straight strikeouts, threatening to take away even more shine Yoshinobu YamamotoOn Saturday, the Dodgers suddenly erupted with two hits in about two minutes, seventh-inning home runs by Smith and Muncy saving their game and quite possibly their season in relief. win 5-1 over owner of the Toronto Blue Jays to even the series at one game each.
While two game-changing fastballs left the plate, Yamamoto did not, becoming the first Dodger to record a second straight complete game win since. Orel Hershiser did it for the Dodgers 37 years ago.
That's right, another 105 pitches of excellence, Yamamoto worked all nine innings, allowing one run, four hits, nine strikeouts, no walks, retiring the final 20 hitters, again simply amazing.
“I took one inning after another,” he said on FOX. “And then I was very good at following through with my suggestions.”
One after another incredible. Series momentum that belonged to Toronto after the Jays game crushing victory with a score of 11-4 Game 1 is now firmly back against the Dodgers, and the next three games will be played at Dodgers Stadium starting Monday.
What do they look like? Tyler Glasnow, Shohei OhtaniAnd Blake Snelllike this. Those three will start the next three games at Dodger Stadium, meaning the Dodgers could end their once losing streak before they leave town again.
So much has changed so quickly.
At one point, the teams were tied at 1 through six innings, with a breathtaking pitching duel between Yamamoto and the Jays' Kevin Gausman.
Then, with one player out in the seventh, Gausman batted first and Smith turned on a 94 mph fastball and sent it 404 feet into the left field seats. The usually stoic Smith shouted to his bench, and their answering shouts were amplified when, one pitch later, Muncy drove a 96 mph fastball 351 feet over the left field fence to make it 3-1.
That left the stage to Yamamoto, the richest pitcher in baseball history. $325 million contracta deal that now seems worth it.
Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto receives the game ball from third baseman Max Muncy after pitching a complete game on Saturday.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Entering the game, he had a 2–1 1.83 ERA in three playoff starts, most recently defeating the Milwaukee Brewers in the NLCS with Dodgers' first complete game of the postseason at 21 years old.
And now he's just done it again, aided by two additional Dodger runs in the eighth.
He benefited from that early Saturday when the Dodgers scored first with two in the first on a huge double into the right field corner. Freddie Freeman and, two pitches later, Smith's single to center.
But he responded with a struggle in Toronto's half of the first, the Blue Jays putting their first two batters on base with a double by George Springer and a single by Nathan Lux. But Yamamoto removed the heart of the Jays' team – Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Alejandro Kirk and Daulton Varsho – without any of them hitting the ball out of the infield.
Yamamoto continued to struggle in the third as the Blue Jays tied the game after Yamamoto hit Springer on the forearm, Guerrero Jr. hit a single off the left field wall and Alejandro Kirk hit Springer with a fly ball to center.
But surprisingly, with neither Blue Jay getting on base after that ball, Yamamoto shut them down, shut them down and set the stage for Game 3 at Dodger Stadium on Monday night, which will be filled with raw emotion as the locals welcome back two old, um, friends.
Springer will bat leadoff for the Jays and Max Scherzer will take the mound, and if you don't boo them both, I won't recognize you anymore.
Springer is, of course, one of the last active members of the Houston Astros team that cheated the Dodgers. 2017 World Series Championship. In that series, he hit .379 with five home runs and seven RBIs and was named MVP, but he did so while leading a team that stole Dodgers signs and was ready for Dodgers pitching.
Remember the sound of trash cans? Of course yes. Does it still bother you? Of course it is.
This is the Dodgers' first postseason meeting with Springer since that skit, and now would be a good time to show him just how pissed he is.
There's also the well-travelled Scherzer, who came to the Dodgers at the 2021 trade deadline and seemed destined to lead them to a second straight championship.
Except when they needed him most, he switched off.
After allowing just two runs in 12 ⅓ innings in the wild card and division series – even saving the clinching game of the division series against the San Francisco Giants – Scherzer began to tire in the NLCS against the Atlanta Braves. He was days away from becoming a free agent. He didn't want to risk his health and ruin a potentially big contract.
So when the Dodgers asked him to start Game 6, he cited injuries and said he was unavailable. Walker Buehler pitched in his place and gave up four runs in four innings in a season-ending 4–2 loss.
The Dodgers haven't forgotten that day. Scherzer asked, “What day?”
“I wouldn't look back at all for any motivation,” he told the media on Saturday. “I have a lot of motivation. I'm here to win and my club is full of guys who want to win too. So we're a great team and that's all I have to think about.”
Dodger fans can remind him of that. They'll get their chance Monday at Dodger Stadium.
Highlights from Yoshinobu Yamamoto's complete game in the Dodgers' 5-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 2 of the World Series.
