by Cary Osborne
Gavin Stone. Walker Buehler. Orel Hershiser.
The first one was the last Dodger to complete a game for the Dodgers (in 2024) before Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series.
The second one was the last Dodger pitcher to complete two games in a season (2019).
The third one was the last Dodger to complete two consecutive games in the postseason (1988).
Call him a throwback, call him a maverick, call him an ace — Yoshinobu Yamamoto has completed consecutive postseason games and given the Dodgers victories in Games 2 of the NLCS and now the World Series.
Yamamoto’s nine innings in Toronto on Saturday night sent the Dodgers home with a road split in the World Series. The Dodgers beat the Blue Jays 5–1, one night after a jarring 11–4 defeat.
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The Blue Jay offense had seen 150 pitches per game in 12 postseason games leading to Game 2 of the World Series. They hadn’t seen fewer than 129. They saw 171 against the Dodgers in Game 1.
Yamamoto threw 105 pitches.
He allowed four hits. The Blue Jays averaged 11 hits per game in the postseason.
The first inning was both his most challenging and most masterful.
The Blue Jays had runners on the corners and no outs after a leadoff double from George Springer and a single from Nathan Lukes.
Yamamoto struck out Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for the first out. It was the Blue Jays slugger’s third strikeout of the entire postseason. He induced a weak contact out from Alejando Kirk, who went 3-for-3 with a home run in Game 1. Then he struck out Daulton Varsho, who also homered in Game 1.
Kirk’s sacrifice fly RBI in the third inning represented the only Toronto run in the game.
He retired the final 20 batters he faced.
Yamamoto’s last two postseason lines look like this:
NLCS Game 2 vs. the Brewers: 9 IP, 3 H, 1 BB, 1 R (1 ER), 7 Ks, 111 pitches/81 strikes
World Series Game 2 vs. the Blue Jays: 9 IP, 4 H, 0 BB, 1 HBP, 1 R (1 ER), 105 pitches/73 strikes
Johnny Cueto. Madison Bumgarner. Curt Schilling.
Cueto was the last pitcher to complete a World Series game (2015 World Series Game 2). Bumgarner was the last pitcher to complete two postseason games in the same season (2014). Schilling was the last pitcher to complete consecutive postseason games (2001).
Until Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
2025 World Series: Yoshinobu Yamamoto is completely dominant, again was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.