Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched a uncommon four-hitter to get the reigning champion Los Angeles Dodgers again within the World Sequence.
Revealed On 26 Oct 2025
Japanese ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto flipped the World Sequence script in favour of the reigning champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers, who’re headed dwelling for 3 video games and flying excessive after a 5-1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays in Sport 2 on Saturday.
Yamamoto was spectacular whereas pitching an entire sport, hanging out eight batters and strolling none, whereas Will Smith drove in three runs, together with a solo dwelling run within the seventh inning that put the Dodgers forward for good.
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“Yeah, he was simply locked in tonight,” Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts mentioned of Yamamoto. “It was a type of issues he mentioned earlier than the collection: dropping shouldn’t be an choice, and he had that look tonight.”
The win leve;led the best-of-seven collection at 1-1 and put the star-studded Dodgers again on monitor of their bid to grow to be Main League Baseball’s (MLB) first repeat champions in 25 years.
Baffled hitters
A day after a humbling 11-4 defeat that uncovered the thinness of the Dodgers’ bullpen, and should have allowed some doubt to creep into their clubhouse, the group turned the ball over to their ace within the hopes he might proper the ship.
Making his first begin since pitching a complete-game gem within the Nationwide League Championship Sequence, Yamamoto once more went the gap, and left Blue Jays hitters baffled at some point after they have been seemingly hitting pitches at will.
“Going into the sport, the pregame bullpen, I used to be feeling actually good with the splitter,” Yamamoto mentioned about his signature pitch.
“I’m very glad and pleased with the truth that I used to be capable of carry a giant contribution and provides an opportunity for the group to win.”
Quick Begin
The Dodgers made a quick begin as Freddie Freeman hit a two-out double within the first inning earlier than Smith singled to place the guests forward 1-0.
Toronto threatened within the backside half of the inning, getting runners on first and third with no outs, however Yamamoto retired the subsequent three batters to get out of the jam and by no means seemed again.
Yamamoto was so dominant that he retired the ultimate 20 batters he confronted on the night time, a exceptional run that began when he obtained Alejandro Kirk out on a sacrifice fly that scored George Springer within the third.
“He made it onerous for us to make him work,” Blue Jays supervisor John Schneider mentioned of Yamamoto’s efficiency. “He was within the zone, cut up was out and in of the zone. It was a extremely good efficiency by him.”
‘Pitchers duel’
The Dodgers, who additionally had their fingers full with Toronto starter Kevin Gausman, broke by way of within the seventh when Smith homered into the second deck in left discipline earlier than Max Muncy’s solo shot two batters later.
Los Angeles added two extra runs within the eighth on a wild pitch earlier than Smith grounded right into a fielder’s alternative that scored Shohei Ohtani.
Gausman, who previous to Smith’s homer had retired 17 Dodgers batters in a row, took the loss after permitting three runs and hanging out six batters in 6-2/3 innings.
“I assumed Kev matched [Yamamoto] pitch for pitch, actually,” mentioned Blue Jays supervisor John Schneider. “They each had low pitch counts. It was sort of a traditional pitchers’ duel, they usually made a pair extra swings.”
Sport 3 is on Monday.
