The Los Angeles Dodgers used their battery power to unplug the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 2 of the World Series on Saturday night at Rogers Centre. Starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto tossed the first World Series complete game in a decade -- and his second in a row this postseason -- and catcher Will Smith hit the go-ahead homer and drove in three runs in a 5-1 Dodgers victory that tied the series at one apiece.

Here's the thing about the Dodgers' World Series run a year ago -- while yes, it was fueled by their bullpen, it was still largely predicated on an offense that continuously churned out runs and was able to slug their way through October. Through 16 games last postseason, the Dodgers hit 29 home runs, flexing on opposing pitching staffs while not having to string hits together to manufacture runs (though they managed to do that, too).

They entered Game 2 with 14 home runs in 11 games so far this postseason. It should come as no surprise the Dodgers have averaged just 4.55 runs per game this time around after averaging 5.93 last October.

They've run into a buzzsaw with some of the pitching they've faced. But they've also had quite the power outage compared to the team that led the National League with 244 home runs during the regular season.

They also had quite a few hittable pitches early in Game 2 against Kevin Gausman, who left several fastballs early in counts over the heart of the plate and really didn't have to pay for it. A Freddie Freeman double and Smith single got a first-inning run across against him, but those missed chances on fastballs allowed him to use his splitter more effectively and mow down, on paper, what should be a much more potent lineup than they've shown.

Gausman retired 17 batters in a row, until the Dodgers finally found a way to lift the ball over the fence, with Smith's first blast of the postseason flying way out to left to give the Dodgers a 2-1 lead in the seventh. Two batters later, Max Muncy popped a homer out to left field to make it 3-1 and give the Dodgers some much-needed breathing room.

Toronto had Yamamoto up to 46 pitches through three innings, putting the leadoff man on in each of the first three frames. It was the same script as Game 1, forcing the Dodgers' starter to pile on added pitches and labor through long innings. The plan: get to Los Angeles' bullpen quickly -- that's when the runs can arrive.

"We're grinding him," Schneider told The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal during the broadcast, "which is kind of what we're trying to do. He's got really good stuff. Five pitches, you got to be ready to hit a mistake, but at the same time, you got to really, really focus on areas."

But then the grinding stopped.

Yamamoto cruised through the fourth and fifth innings on just 14 pitches. He threw only 11 in the sixth. Addison Barger flew out on one pitch, Ernie Clement lasted just two deliveries and multiple Jays were out on three. That aggression can work for Toronto, as it has all season, but only if early swings turn into hits. Otherwise, against this strong Dodgers pitching staff, the Jays have to wage war on short at-bats and get to the bullpen as soon as possible. They didn't on Saturday.

The story has been scripted into the lore around Yamamoto: his first postseason run started with a crisis of confidence. The undisputed best pitcher in Japan's transition to Major League Baseball was uneasy, with strong numbers, a shoulder injury and no real feel for how to attack American hitters. It all still felt so new. So before what would be Game 5 of the National League Division Series, Kiké Hernández took Yamamoto to breakfast. He reassured the $325 million ace, a lesson that rebuilt Yamamoto's form and sent him on a run in October.

Yamamoto has rarely blinked since.

His first World Series start last October against the New York Yankees, Yamamoto pitched into the seventh inning. He followed his rookie year with a dominant wire-to-wire season in 2025. He's been brilliant this October, and was coming off the first Dodgers postseason complete game since José Lima in 2004 when he took the mound for Game 2.

When he found trouble, he didn't blink. George Springer roped an 0-2 pitch for a double to lead off the night, and Nathan Lukes followed with a bloop single to bring up the most feared hitter in this postseason field in Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Yamamoto rallied out of an 0-2 count, daring Guerrero with four straight splitters before getting him to strike out on a curveball. It was just Guerrero's fourth strikeout all October. Yamamoto fell behind the next two hitters, as well, but somehow got out of it without a run scoring.

He largely cruised from there, adding to what is quickly becoming a glittering postseason resume, becoming the first pitcher since Curt Schilling in 2001 to throw complete games in consecutive postseason starts.

Gausman had never finished the sixth inning in a playoff outing. His last three October starts all ended with two outs in the fifth. It appeared a fall wall that Gausman couldn't break through, until Saturday.

With 17-straight batters retired in the middle innings of Game 2, Gausman pushed beyond the sixth and into the seventh with brilliant efficiency. It was new heights for the 34-year-old. He was flying high until two solo homers shot him down in the seventh. Smith and Max Muncy ended Gausman's day with deep drives to left field, pushing the Dodgers ahead 3-1. After the longest start of his postseason life, Gausman tossed his gum and walked off the mound to a raucous applause.

It was, in many ways, a brilliant outing for the veteran righty. But Yamamoto was simply better. If the pair matches up again in Game 6, either Gausman must be essentially perfect or the Jays' bats must find a way against Yamamoto -- neither are simple asks.

Dodgers-Blue Jays Game 2 takeaways: Los Angeles uses battery power to tie World Series