TORONTO (AP) — Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched a four-hitter for his second straight complete game, his first in the World Series since 2015, and the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-1 on Saturday night to even the best-of-seven series at one game each.
After a three-hitter against Milwaukee in the National League Championship Series, which was the first complete game of a postseason since 2017, Yamamoto retired his final 20 batters in the first complete game of the series since Kansas City's Johnny Cueto against the New York Mets in Game 2 of 2015.
No pitcher has thrown back-to-back complete games in the postseason since Arizona ace Curt Schilling, who hit three in a row in the NL Division Series and the 2001 NLCS.
Will Smith had three RBIs for the Dodgers, breaking a tie at 1 with a seventh-inning home run from Kevin Gausman, who had retired 17 straight batters. Max Muncy added another solo homer later in the inning.
A 27-year-old right-hander in his second season in the big leagues, Yamamoto threw 105 pitches (73 hits) after throwing 111 batters against the Brewers. He needed 23 pitches to get through the first inning before settling down.
Yamamoto struck out eight and walked none, improving to 5-1 in two postseasons with the Dodgers, who are 7-1 as starters.
Using a six-pitch streak, he allowed his only run in the third after hitting George Springer near the wrist with a pitch and giving up Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s single off the left field wall. It was the last runner allowed by Yamamoto, who began his streak by striking out Alejandro Kirk on a sacrifice fly.
Freddie Freeman hit a double with two outs in the first and scored on Smith's single.
Smith hit the second deck in left field with a full-count fastball, and two batters later Muncy hit a hit to the opposite field and stopped the fastball on the outside corner. Jeff Hoffman threw a run-scoring pitch in the eighth and Smith then grounded in an RBI groundout.
After a day of travel, the series resumes Monday night at Dodger Stadium.
Los Angeles took the lead for the second straight night, scoring in the first when Freeman doubled after fouling three times on two hits and walked Smith in on a single.
A double by Springer and a single by Nathan Lux put runners on the corners with no outs in the bottom half, but Yamamoto struck out Guerrero, brought Kirk on a liner to first and iced Dalton Varsho with a called third strike.
Freeman made an uncharacteristic fielding error, walking Ernie Clement's first pop-up in the second, which fell for a 36-foot single, but Yamamoto retired the next three batters.
A day after Bo Bichette returned from a sprained knee that sidelined him for seven weeks, the two-time All-Star started the game on the Toronto bench. He struck out in the seventh, grounded out, and stayed in the game at second base.
Further
The Blue Jays' Max Scherzer will face Dodgers ruler Tyler Glasnow in Game 3. A three-time Cy Young Award winner, Scherzer, 41, will be the first pitcher to start a series for four teams. His only decision for Washington was when he beat Houston in the 2019 opener. Glasnow has a 0.68 ERA this postseason.
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