TORONTO — The World Series is already so unforgiving, but the bar is pushed even higher into the sky when the Dodgers are in the other dugout.
Kevin Gausman pitched well in Game 2, truly dominant for much of his first career World Series start, but this is why the losses grow even crueler as October stretches on. Only greatness can beat the Dodgers, so a good night from Gausman just wasn’t enough in the Blue Jays’ 5-1 loss on Saturday at Rogers Centre.
Drop a performance like this into any Tuesday night in May or June and the Blue Jays would be thrilled. They’d likely stroll out of the stadium with a win, too, but these are the Dodgers and the other guy on the mound was Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who went blow for blow with Gausman for six innings but kept his greatness burning just a bit longer.
“Oh, man, Kev was really good,” manager John Schneider said, and the rasp in his voice alone said something more. He was good in a way that’s typically enough.
“I thought Kev matched him pitch for pitch, really,” Schneider continued. “They both had low pitch counts. It was kind of a classic pitchers’ duel and they made a couple more swings.”
Into the seventh inning, Gausman had retired 17 straight Dodgers batters, burning through their star-studded lineup with a pair of six-pitch innings and a seven-pitch frame. Those 17 in a row were the second-most in Blue Jays postseason history behind only David Price, who retired 18 consecutive batters in Game 2 of the 2015 ALCS. It fell apart so quickly, though, with home runs by Will Smith and Max Muncy. Gausman’s clear path to a complete game slammed shut.
“He threw me all heaters,” Smith said after his Dodgers evened the series. “He kind of nibbled, let me get back in the count. He made a mistake up and I was able to keep it fair.”
The margins are so thin on Oct. 25. To beat the Dodgers, the Blue Jays need to fly an airplane through the eye of a needle. The Dodgers demand more than just a good game to beat them.
“I could have pitched better and, obviously, the guy on the other side did,” Gausman said.
Friday, in Game 1, the Blue Jays did something great. Their offense erupted for a nine-run inning to power a statement win, 11-4. That was the best of the Blue Jays, all crammed into one of the most memorable innings in this organization’s history. To score nine off Yamamoto, though, the Blue Jays might have needed another 10 ballgames.
“It was his night,” Vladimir Guerrero Jr. said through interpreter Hector Lebron. ”This was his night and he did an excellent job.”
There’s nothing for Gausman to hang his head about here. The intensity and conviction he pitched with need to be bottled up and carried over to his next start, which could be a potential Game 6 back home in Toronto. By then, he’d either be pitching to save the season or win the World Series.
From the moment Gausman walked out of the Blue Jays’ bullpen in left field, there was an edge to him we don’t typically see. As he made the long walk from the bullpen to the dugout, a camera followed Gausman and catcher Alejandro Kirk, projecting their faces on the massive screen hanging above center field at Rogers Centre. Kirk closed his eyes and rolled his neck back and forth as he sauntered alongside his starter, but Gausman just glared straight ahead. He didn’t blink, his eyes darting all around the field. This was the start he’s pitched 13 years in the big leagues to make.
Gausman is one of the most well-balanced players you’ll find, though, a balance he’d learned with the years. Even after the loss, Gausman was able to appreciate what this moment and the path to it meant.
“It was a lot of fun, for sure. My first World Series at 34, so it was fun,” Gausman said. “It was electric out there. I wish I would have thrown up a zero in the first, for sure, but I got out of it and got on a roll. This is a fun place to pitch. The fans definitely let me know before the game how excited they were. Now, we go to L.A.”
In L.A., the Blue Jays need to do something great again. Max Scherzer will need to turn back the clock one more time. Shane Bieber will need to give the Blue Jays a dominant start, one worthy of the belief they put in him with that bold trade at the Deadline. On top of all of that, the Blue Jays will need to find ways to score against Tyler Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani.
These are big asks, but the bar is so much higher in the World Series. There is no silver medal. A pair of truly great performances have won Games 1 and 2, first by the Blue Jays’ offense and then by Yamamoto. If this was June, we’d say that Gausman deserved better, but the World Series doesn’t leave any room for those things.
