TORONTO — Will Smith unloaded on Kevin Gausmanâ€s inside fastball and dropped his bat the moment heâ€d completed his follow-through. The ball soared into the second deck, just inside the left-field foul pole. Smith flexed and let loose a roar. Rogers Centre went quiet. The visiting dugout erupted.
Sixteen innings into the 2025 World Series, the Dodgers†offense had come to life. Not a moment too soon.
Two batters after Smithâ€s homer, Max Muncy went deep as well. Los Angeles tacked on two more in the eighth. When the dust settled — and Yoshinobu Yamamoto had completed his complete-game masterpiece — the Dodgers had evened the World Series at a game apiece with their 5-1 victory on Saturday night in Toronto.
“[Smith] hit the homer, and there was just complete elation,†said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “We felt that the way Yamamoto was throwing, runs were certainly going to be hard to come by. And then when Max backed it up with another homer, just a huge relief.â€
All season long, the Dodgers†offense has been among the best in baseball. They led the National League with 849 runs and a 113 wRC+. But through the first game and a half of the World Series, theyâ€d mostly gone quietly. In Game 1, they failed to convert on several early opportunities. Shohei Ohtani hit a late homer. But by then, the game was settled.
Then, in Game 2, Blue Jays ace Kevin Gausman was practically untouchable through the first six innings. When Smith came to the plate with one out in the seventh, Gausman had retired 17 straight hitters.
“He was really good today,†Smith told the FOX broadcast. “He was really locating the fastball at the bottom of the zone. You don’t really want to swing at that pitch, with the splitter. We were just trying to get him up. It’s pretty standard. He threw me all fastballs, and I finally get one up in the zone, get a good swing on it and keep it fair.â€
It was perhaps fitting that Smith and Muncy sparked the offense to life. The Dodgers have three likely future Hall of Famers at the top of their lineup. But the strength of that lineup is still its depth. If you can get past Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman at the top, youâ€ll still need to navigate your way through perennial All-Stars with years of postseason experience.
Smith and Muncy? Theyâ€ve been here before.
“You can let the emotions of the moment get the best of you, try to hit a homer every time, try to be the hero every time,†Smith said. “It wonâ€t work out. I just try to simplify it, put together good at-bats, swing at good pitches.â€
Gausman wasnâ€t offering up many of them. But in the seventh, he finally did.
“It was kind of a classic pitchers’ duel,†said Blue Jays manager John Schneider. “And they made a couple more swings.â€
Smithâ€s playoff status was in question after he sustained a hairline fracture in his right hand late in the regular season. He came off the bench in the Wild Card Series against the Reds and struggled in the Division Series against Philadelphia. But since the start of the NLCS, Smith is 9-for-22 — a .409 average across six games.
“It just lengthens it out,†Betts said. “He can face righties, lefties, it doesn’t really matter. He’s really good at separating … catching and hitting and offense and defense and vice versa. I wouldn’t say he’s a sleeper in our lineup. Because I think you definitely have to prepare for him.â€
Following Smithâ€s homer, the Dodgers†offense started to look like … the Dodgers†offense. What itâ€s supposed to look like, at least. They blended patience and power and quickly tacked on three runs. Muncy chased Gausman with his opposite-field solo homer, and L.A. added two more via two eighth-inning walks and two singles.
Not that Yamamoto needed the insurance. If anything, the late offensive surge was a statement of intent moving forward in the series. Much has been made about the Blue Jays†juggernaut of an offense. But the Dodgers†lineup is plenty deep, too.
It was the slumping Andy Pages who started the rally in the eighth with a one-out single. Ohtani followed with a broken-bat single of his own. After Mookie Betts worked a walk, Schneider called for closer Jeff Hoffman to keep the game within reach.
Hoffmanâ€s first pitch was in the dirt, and Pages scampered home. Ohtani scored later in the frame when Smith beat out a double-play grounder.
A once raucous Rogers Centre grew quieter with each tack-on run. Resignation was setting in. The Dodgers were heading back to Los Angeles with a split.
“Itâ€s going to be a long [flight],†Freeman told the FOX broadcast after the game. “But itâ€s going to be a good one.â€
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