TORONTO – Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched a complete game of four hits a night after the Blue Jays had scored 11 times against Dodgers pitching and Will Smith drove in three runs, leading Los Angeles to a 5-1 victory to tie the World Series at one win side.

Coming into these Major League playoffs, no pitcher had thrown a complete game in the postseason since 2017. Yamamoto has now pitched two in a row for the Dodgers. Most importantly, they've come through when his team really needed them, especially this Saturday at Rogers Centre in Toronto.

Yamamoto hadn't pitched in a game since October 14, when he threw a rare complete game at Milwaukee, a game in which he gave up a home run on the first pitch and then completely dominated the Brewers.

It was a similar story Saturday: after allowing one run in the first three minutes, the 27-year-old right-hander settled in and cooled down a hot lineup. He struck out eight batters and didn't issue a walk. He threw 105 pitches for his third win of these playoffs.

Another RBI for Mexican Kirk

Just like in Game 1, the Dodgers opened the scoring. Freddie Freeman, who also has Canadian citizenship, doubled with two outs in the first inning and was driven in by Will Smith's single against starter Kevin Gausman.

Yamamoto, meanwhile, allowed hits to the first two batters of the game, but the talented Japanese pitcher retired the next three men, including strikeouts of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Daulton Varsho.

Los Angeles' lead didn't last long. Toronto tied the game in the third thanks to a hit by Alejandro Kirk.

George Springer had reached on a hit by Yamamoto and advanced to third on a long single by Guerrero Jr. with one out. Tijuana native Kirk followed with a deep fly ball to center field to drive in Springer and add his third RBI of the World Series.

Smith, Muncy interrupt pitching recital

Toronto starter Kevin Gausman cruised through the early run and had thrown just 66 pitches entering the seventh inning. But Yamamoto had been equally efficient, throwing 71 pitches to that point.

After a Game 1 of the October Classic where the hits came hard and often, the powerful Dodgers and Blue Jays lineups gave in to the strong pitching.

The pitching recital, however, was cut short by a high note off the bat of Will Smith, who, with one out in the seventh inning, silenced the Rogers Centre with a second-deck blast through left field to break the tie and put Los Angeles ahead 2-1. The Dodgers catcher lined a fastball inside with the count full.

Two batters later, Max Muncy repeated the Gausman dose by sending a fastball out over the wrong side of the field, landing it in the Blue Jays bullpen to make it 3-1 and send the starting pitcher to the showers.

The Dodgers built up a valuable cushion in the eighth inning. After loading the bases with one out against reliever Louis Varland, closer Jeff Hoffman threw a wild pitch on his first pitch against Freddie Freeman, allowing Andy Pages to score to make it 4-1. Smith then broke a double play on a grounder to shortstop to make it 5-1 with his third RBI of the night by sending Ohtani home.

The Blue Jays recalled their 1993 hero

Before the game, the Blue Jays remembered their greatest moment ever: Joe Carter’s home run to win the 1993 World Series against Philadelphia. The former slugger threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

Game 3 is scheduled for Monday at 5 p.m. PT at Dodger Stadium. Max Scherzer, a three-time Cy Young Award winner in his remarkable career, is the announced starting pitcher for Toronto, while Tyler Glasnow is the designated starter for Los Angeles.