The Dodgers will try to even the World Series at one game a piece Saturday in Toronto with Yoshinobu Yamamoto taking the mound for the first time since pitching the first postseason complete game since 2017.
Yamamoto pitched a three-hitter, shutting out the Milwaukee Brewers after Jackson Chourio hit his first pitch for a home run in a 5-1 victory in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series Oct. 14 in Milwaukee.
Yamamoto will be facing Toronto for the first time in his two-season MLB career.
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"They ... keep the lineup moving and then they can hit home runs when it's needed so I'm thinking the key for me is just to keep the fundamental pitching and not to care that much about runners," Yamamoto said through an interpreter before the Dodgers' 11-4 loss to the Blue Jays in Game 1 Friday.
Yamamoto was a first-time All-Star Game selection during a season when opposing batters hit .183 against him, the lowest average in MLB. He was first in the National League in walks plus hits per inning, 0.95, second in ERA, 2.49, and third in strikeouts per nine innings, 10.42.
Fellow right-hander Kevin Gausman will start for Toronto, making his first World Series appearance in a major league career that began in 2013, one year after he was chosen by the Baltimore Orioles with the fourth pick in the amateur draft.
"Every year you go into the season with the hope that you're one of the last two teams playing. That just hasn't been the reality for me," the 34- year-old Gausman said Friday. "I'm just really excited for this group and for myself.
"It's been a crazy ride and now we are here and we're excited to kind of show the world what the Blue Jays are all about."
The Dodgers chose Gausman in the sixth round of the 2010 draft out of Grandview High School in Aurora, Colorado, but he opted to play for LSU instead.
Gausman was 10-11 with a 3.59 ERA in the regular season, with Toronto posting a 17-15 record in his 32 starts.
Gausman is 2-1 with a 2.00 ERA in three starts and one relief appearance in the postseason. He pitched one inning of relief Monday in the Blue Jays' 4-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series, pitching a hitless seventh inning, but walking three batters, one intentionally.
Gausman is 2-3 with a 3.57 ERA in nine starts and one relief appearance against the Dodgers. He most recently faced them on April 28, 2024, when he allowed one run and five hits in seven innings, striking out five and not walking a batter and was credited with the victory in Toronto's 3-1 win.
The first pitch is set for 5:08 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time. The game will be televised on Fox, broadcast in English by KLAC-AM (570) and in Spanish by KTNQ-AM (1020).
On Friday, the Dodgers allowed nine runs in the sixth inning, the third-most in a single inning in World Series history, behind the 10 scored by the Philadelphia Athletics in Game 4 of the 1929 World Series against the Chicago Cubs and the Detroit Tigers against the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 6 of the 1968 World Series.
Addison Barger hit the first pinch hit grand slam in the World Series during the inning. Alejandro Kirk hit a two-run homer three batters after Barger's grand slam.
"We just didn't make pitches when we needed to to keep that game close," Dodger manager Dave Roberts said
The score was tied 2-2 entering the sixth inning.
Toronto's first six batters in the sixth reached base.
Bo Bichette walked on a full-count four-seam fastball from Dodger starter Blake Snell and was replaced by pinch runner Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Kirk singled and Daulton Varsho was hit by a pitch to load the bases, prompting Roberts to take Snell out of the game and summon Emmet Sheehan from the bullpen.
Ernie Clement singled on the second pitch from Sheehan, driving in Kiner-Falefa. Pinch hitter Nathan Lukes drew a nine-pitch walk from Sheehan, after being down in the count 0-2, forcing in Kirk.
Andrés Giménez singled on a 1-2 changeup from Sheehan, driving in Varsho.
George Springer hit a ground ball to Mookie Betts, the Dodgers' shortstop, who threw to Will Smith, their catcher, for the force out on Clement.
When Barger, a left-handed hitter, was announced as the pinch hitter for Davis Schneider, a right-handed hitter, Roberts opted to replace Sheehan, a right-hander, with left-hander Anthony Banda.
Barger hit a 2-1 slider from Banda 413 feet over the center field fence for a grand slam on what Blue Jays manager John Schneider called "a mistake pitch."
Banda also allowed the home run to Kirk.
The Dodgers opened the scoring in the second after being retired in order in the first by rookie right-hander Trey Yesavage, the second-youngest Game 1 starting pitcher in World Series history at 22 years and 88 days.
The only younger Game 1 starter was Ralph Branca, who was 21 years and 267 days old when he was the losing pitcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers in a 5- 3 loss to the New York Yankees in 1947.
Smith walked leading off the second. Teoscar Hernández hit into a force out, moved to second on Max Muncy's single and scored on Kiké Hernández's single.
The Dodgers loaded the bases on Tommy Edman's infield single but could not add another run as Andy Pages struck out and Shohei Ohtani grounded out to Vladimir Guerrero Jr., the Toronto first baseman, to end the inning.
The Dodgers took a 2-0 lead in the third as Mookie Betts led off with a walk, moved to second when Freddie Freeman walked and scored on Smith's single.
The Blue Jays tied the score in the fourth. Kirk led off with a single off the right field wall. Daulton Varsho hit the next pitch from Snell 423 feet over the center field fence for a home run.
Ohtani hit a two-run homer in the seventh after going 0-for-3 with two strikeouts in his first three plate appearances. He walked in ninth.
Ohtani is hitting .222 in the postseason with six home runs, 11 RBIs and 19 strikeouts.
Snell (3-1), the first of five Dodger pitchers, was charged with the loss, allowing five runs and eight hits in five innings, with four strikeouts and three walks.
"Blake just didn't have fastball command," Roberts said. "He was working deeper counts. When he had count leverage, he really couldn't put 'em away because they were putting the ball in play, and there were just a couple bad walks in there."
Seranthony Domínguez (1-1), the third of six Toronto pitchers was credited with the victory, retiring all four batters he faced, striking out two.
The Dodgers were out-hit 14-6, in front of a crowd at Rogers Centre announced at 44,353, including the four-time Grammy-winning rapper Drake.
No Dodger had a multiple-hit game. Kirk was 3-for-3, while Barger, Clement, Guerrero and Springer each had two hits.
The Dodgers left seven runners on base, Toronto five. The Dodgers were 3-for-7 with runners in scoring position, the Blue Jays 3-for-5.
The Game 1 winner has gone to win the Series 77 of 120 times, 64.2%.
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