Dodgers knot World Series on Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s gem versus Blue Jays

TORONTO: Finishing what he starts has become a postseason trend for Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
The Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander pitched his second consecutive complete game Saturday night in a 5-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays to knot the World Series at one apiece.
Game 3 of the best-of-seven series will be played Monday in Los Angeles, with Dodgers right-hander Tyler Glasnow opposing Blue Jays right-hander Max Scherzer.
With the game tied 1-1 in the seventh, Will Smith (three RBIs) and Max Muncy each hit solo homers to back Yamamoto.
Yamamoto (3-1) allowed one run, four hits and no walks while striking out eight.
“To be honest, I was not thinking I could complete the game because my pitch count racked up kind of quickly,” Yamamoto said through an interpreter. “But I’m very happy I completed the game.”
He managed his pitch count as the game progressed and it finished at 105 with 73 strikes, retiring his final 20 batters.
“At the end of the fifth inning, I believe the pitch count was 71, so at that point I was still trying to take it one inning at a time,” Yamamoto said.

“If I was going to the ninth inning or not, we didn’t really talk about it.”
In his previous start, he pitched a three-hit complete game in a 5-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series on Oct. 14.

He was the first Dodger to throw a postseason complete game since Jose Lima in 2004.
Orel Hershiser was the last Dodger with consecutive postseason complete games in Game 7 of the 1988 NLCS and Games 2 and 5 in the 1988 World Series.
“Second complete game in a row in the postseason, that’s pretty impressive, with a layoff in between,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “I think he made it hard for us to