TORONTO — Blue Jays fans, it turns out, have been wasting all of their time booing and mocking the wrong Japanese star who spurned them in free agency.
Forget Shohei Ohtani.
It’s Los Angeles Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto who is ruining the Blue Jays’ dreams of their first World Series title in 32 years.
Yamamoto carved his way into postseason history Saturday night, and tore the heart out of the Blue Jays’ high-powered attack, pitching a four-hit complete game as the Dodgers took a 5-1 victory over the Blue Jays, tying the World Series at one game apiece with the Series returning Monday night to Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
Yamamoto, who retired the final 20 batters he faced, became the first pitcher since Curt Schilling for the 2001 World Series champion Arizona Diamondbacks to throw back-to-back complete games in the playoffs. The last pitcher to throw consecutive complete games that included at least one World Series contest was Hall of Famer Tom Glavine with Atlanta in 1992.
