Dodgers look to push the series to Game 7 with Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the hill – Dodgers Digest

Things started strong as the World Series shifted to LA, with the Dodgers taking an 18-inning classic in the always-important Game 3 for a series lead and a chance to close out at home. It hasn’t gone well since then, as the Dodgers have scored only three runs in the last two games and gave up six in each game. Shohei Ohtani and Blake Snell did enough on the mound to keep the games within reach, but each left their starts with two runners on base and all four inherited runners scored. The Dodgers were finally playing to closer to their potential in September and through the first three rounds, but have fallen back into bad habits on offense and defense and the bullpen has been bullpenning. They now need two road wins for a title, which seems doable if anyone besides Ohtani decides to do anything offensively.

5:00 PM

Toronto

DH
Ohtani (L)
DH
Springer

C
Smith
LF
Lukes (L)

1B
Freeman (L)
1B
Guerrero Jr.

SS
Betts
SS
Bichette

RF
T. Hernández
CF
Varsho (L)

3B
Muncy (L)
C
Kirk

LF
K. Hernández
RF
Barger (L)

CF
Edman (S)
3B
Clement

2B
Rojas
SS
Giménez (L)

P
Yamamoto (R)
P
Gausman (R)

Yoshinobu Yamamoto looks to continue his historic postseason tonight. Yama struggled in his Game 3 start in the NLDS against the Phillies, allowing three runs and six hits in only four innings. Since then, he’s been quite good. He’s thrown back-to-back complete games, combining to allow two runs and seven hits over those 18 innings with 15 strikeouts and one walk (and a HBP). He’s actually thrown fewer pitches in these complete games (111 and 105, respectively) than he did in his start against the Reds in the Wild Card round, where he needed 113 to get through 6 2/3. His Game 2 start in Toronto started off ominously enough, as he labored through the first inning and allowed a run in the third. Vladimir Guerrero Jr.‘s one-out single in the third was the final baserunner he allowed, as he finished the game with 20 in a row retired. He needed 23 pitches to escape the first inning, but only threw 82 over the final eight innings. He came into that game with 10 days’ rest after the Dodgers swept the NLCS, but he won’t have that luxury this time. He’ll be on a more-normal five days of rest, but he was starting to get loose in the 18th inning of the marathon game on Monday. I’m not sure how intensely he was throwing in the bullpen, but we’ll see if that factors in any extra fatigue.

Yamamoto leaned on the splitter in that Game 2 start, throwing it 32.9 percent of the time. That was his highest usage on the pitch since his first start of the season back in Tokyo. He actually didn’t get any strikeouts on it, but batters went 0-for-6 off it and he got a 31.6 percent whiff rate on it. He threw a fastball 23.8 percent of the time and two of the four hits he allowed came off it (including the lone extra base hit). He also didn’t allow a hit on his curve (21.9 percent usage), with four strikeouts and a 41.7 percent whiff rate on it. He also threw a few cutters (12.4 percent), slider (5.7 percent) and sinkers (3.8 percent).

Like in Game 2, Yamamoto squares off against Kevin Gausman. Gausman came into that start with three starts this postseason that each went 5 2/3 innings. He ended that trend against the Dodgers, pitching into the seventh for the first time this postseason. Gausman started the game with two quick outs, but the Dodgers got to him with a Freddie Freeman double and Will Smith single in the first inning. He didn’t allow another baserunner until the seventh, matching Yamamoto’s dominance until two bad pitches ended his night. Smith took Gausman deep with one out in the seventh, and Max Muncy took him deep with two outs to end his night.

Gausman primarily threw two different pitches in that Game 2 start. He led with a fastball, throwing it 59.8 percent of the time. The Dodgers were 0-for-13 off it until that seventh inning, when both homers came off the fastball. The Muncy homer did come on Gausman’s third-fastest pitch of the night (and his fastest to a batter that wasn’t Ohtani). Smith’s came on a fastball that was a bit slower than his average fastball in that game (94.2, averaged 94.6 on the heater). Gausman threw a splitter 35.4 percent of the time and it was close to unhittable. Freeman’s first inning double was the only hit he allowed on the splitter and it had a 61.5 percent whiff rate. He threw four sliders in the game and one of them was hit for a single.

The Dodgers shuffle the lineup a bit again, with Mookie Betts dropping down to fourth. Will Smith hits second and Freddie Freeman hits third. Miguel Rojas gets his first start of the series, playing second and hitting ninth. Tommy Edman shifts over to center in place of Andy Pages/Alex Call. The Blue Jays get George Springer back in the lineup, leading off and serving as the DH. Bo Bichette starts at second.

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This isn’t exactly an all hands on deck game, but most hands will be on deck.