Going the Distance: Yamamoto outduels Gausman as Dodgers pull even in World Series

TORONTO — Starters Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Kevin Gausman went old-school on Saturday with a classic pitching duel in Game 2 of the World Series.

Gausman blinked first and the Los Angeles Dodgers took advantage.

The Toronto pitcher retired 17 straight batters before Will Smith hit a go-ahead solo shot in the seventh inning and Max Muncy homered two batters later to lift the Dodgers to a 5-1 win over the Blue Jays.

Yamamoto gave up a run in the third before retiring 19 Toronto batters in a row for the complete game to help Los Angeles even the best-of-seven series at one game apiece.

“He had all his pitches working for him,” said Blue Jays outfielder Nathan Lukes. “He’s good. He’s one of the best for a reason and he showed it tonight.”

The Dodgers tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the eighth inning to quiet the sellout crowd of 44,607 at Rogers Centre. Game 3 is set for Monday night at Dodger Stadium.

“Outstanding, uber-competitive, special,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of his starter. “He was just locked in tonight. It was one of those things he said before the series — losing is not an option — and he had that look tonight.”

Yamamoto allowed one earned run and four hits while striking out eight. He did not walk a batter.

“My pitching style is just keep attacking the zone,” Yamamoto said. “So every pitch I throw, I focus on getting to the strike zone.”

He navigated out of jams in the first and third innings before completely shutting the home side down. Yamamoto threw 73 of his 105 pitches for strikes.

He became the first pitcher to throw back-to-back complete games in the post-season since Curt Schilling threw three in a row for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001.

“I just feel that part of his DNA is to just perform at a high level in big spots and control his heartbeat and just continue to make pitches,” said Roberts. “He could have (thrown) another 30, 40 pitches tonight.”

Gausman, meanwhile, settled into a groove after allowing a Smith single that drove in Freddie Freeman in the first inning. The veteran right-hander went back and forth with his counterpart, with neither pitcher getting much time to rest before heading back to the mound.

“There’s a lot of really good pitchers in this series, so that’s probably what you’re going to see,” Gausman said. “It’s the best against the best. So it was fun to be a part of for sure.

“But like I said, on to the next one.”

Home-field advantage has now swung to the defending champions.

The Blue Jays, who won the opener 11-4, will need to win at least once over the next three road games to secure a return back to Rogers Centre for a potential Game 6 on Friday.

The Blue Jays delivered on their last road trip, taking two out of three in Seattle before winning two straight at home to claim the American League pennant.

“Our mindset stays pretty consistent,” said Toronto closer Jeff Hoffman. “We show up, we want to play our brand of baseball and dictate what happens in the game through our bats and through our pitching.”

When a World Series is tied at one, the Game 3 winner goes on to win the series 67 per cent of the time.

Toronto’s Max Scherzer (1-0, 3.18 ERA) is tabbed to start on Monday against fellow right-hander Tyler Glasnow (0-0, 0.68).

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 25, 2025.