Blue Jays Bats Get Silenced by Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Game 2 to Even World Series

Things are now tied up in the World Series after the Toronto Blue Jays dropped Game 2.

Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images

Game 1 of the World Series became an offensive highlight reel for the Toronto Blue Jays.

The batters took full control over the Los Angeles Dodgers' pitching staff as they exploded to have the third-best inning in World Series history when they scored nine runs the sixth. But unfortunately, Game 2 was nothing like the first for the Blue Jays.

Saturday was a pitching duel between Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Kevin Gausman. Both pitchers got into trouble early, then both settled down and dominated the opposing lineups. However, Yamamoto was able to keep it rolling, while the seventh inning came back to haunt Gausman and allowed the Dodgers to win Game 2 by a score of 5-1 to even the series at one win apiece.

Significant Moments in Game 2

Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images

It was an eerily similar feeling to start night two at Rogers Centre. Los Angeles was the first to reach home plate once again on a Will Smith Single. Toronto worked Yamamoto the same way they did Blake Snell in the first inning when their offense had a chance to strike early before stranding a pair on the bases.

The Blue Jays fell into an early hole, but it didn't last long. George Springer was drilled by Yamamoto to start the third, and he came around to score the first run of the game for Toronto after Vladimir Guerrero Jr. singled him over to third base and Alejandro Kirk got him home with a sacrifice fly.

Yamamoto didn't find his first clean inning until the fourth, but after that, it was smooth sailing. He was able to put up back-to-back-to-back clean innings in the fourth, fifth and sixth. After a 25-pitch first inning, he only needed 14 combined in the fourth and fifth.

Gausman was cruising on his end, too. He had retired 17 consecutive batters before the game-altering seventh inning. After getting Freddie Freeman to fly out, Smith punished the Blue Jays starter by pulling a solo home run over the left field fence. Two batters later, Max Muncy hit a solo shot of his own to give the Dodgers a 3-1 lead.

THE MUNCY MASH
IT WAS A #WORLDSERIES SMASH pic.twitter.com/DQnqIjXrXO

— MLB (@MLB) October 26, 2025

That was it for Gausman, as he was pulled right after that to end his longest start of the postseason. Baseball can be a cruel game, because the right-hander was dealing before he ran into trouble during that frame. That's laid out by his final stat line below.

• 6.2 Innings
• 5 Consecutive Scoreless Innings (two-through-six)
• 17 Consecutive Retired Batters
• 6 Strikeouts
• 4 Hits
• 3 Earned Runs
• 2 Longballs
• No Walks

The momentum shift was one Toronto never came back from, though. Louis Varland came out and closed out the seventh, but was pulled in the eighth after loading the bases. Los Angeles scored another two runners as a result and really shut the door on this contest.

Meanwhile, Yamamoto went the full nine innings for the Dodgers. He struck out the side in the eighth and then pitched another three up, three down inning to close things out in the ninth, etching his name into franchise history as the second pitcher to throw consecutive complete games in the playoffs.

The World Series is now tied as it heads to Los Angeles for Games 3-5. Things will start back up on Monday as the Blue Jays prepare to send out Max Scherzer for Game 3.