Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – A dazzling 12-strikeout display from rookie pitcher Trey Yesavage carried the Toronto Blue Jays to a 6-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday, leaving the Canadian franchise one win away from a first World Series title in 32 years. A day after tying the series with victory in game four, the Blue Jays moved into a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven Major League Baseball championship series with another masterful all-round performance against the reigning champions at Dodger Stadium.
The result means the Blue Jays need just one win to clinch their first World Series crown since 1993 as the series heads back to Toronto for game six on Friday, with game seven, if needed, set for Saturday. “This was a big performance from a lot of different people individually, but collectively as a team, this was a very, very good team win,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said, before deadpanning that Yesavage had been “pretty good.” “Historic stuff,” Schneider said of Yesavage. “I’m kind of blown away by what he did.”
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The Blue Jays made an explosive start when leadoff hitter Davis Schneider belted a home run from the first pitch off Dodgers ace Blake Snell, before Vladimir Guerrero Jr. smashed another homer into left field two pitches later. That early salvo—the first time in World Series history a team has hit back-to-back leadoff home runs—handed the Blue Jays a lead they would never relinquish. But the undisputed hero for the Blue Jays was Yesavage, who mesmerized the star-studded Dodgers batting line-up with a dozen strikeouts. Yesavage, 22, gave up one run and three hits with no walks in 104 pitches across seven innings in an all-time classic World Series pitching performance. Yesavage is the first pitcher in history to record 12 strikeouts and no walks in a World Series game. It completed another fairytale postseason outing for Yesavage, the hard-throwing right-hander who began the season pitching in the minor leagues before just a few hundred spectators.
The Dodgers’ hopes of becoming the first team in 25 years to win back-to-back World Series are now hanging by a thread. After being outplayed on Tuesday, the Dodgers had gone into Wednesday’s game optimistic that star pitcher Snell could shrug off a lethargic game one display to give them a series lead to take to Toronto on Friday. Snell’s outing though got off to a disastrous start, with Schneider and Guerrero’s early home runs stunning the home crowd into silence.
After failing to get a single hit off Yesavage in the first two innings, the Dodgers got on the board with a solo home run from Enrique Hernandez in the third inning. But the home side gave up that hard-earned run almost immediately with a fielding blunder by Teoscar Hernandez allowing Daulton Varsho to reach third base. Varsho then crossed home plate after an Ernie Clement sacrifice fly to make it 3-1. Snell exited with two runners on base in the seventh inning, and an erratic stint by reliever Edgardo Henriquez saw the Blue Jays tack on two more runs for a 5-1 lead. Isiah Kiner-Falefa drove in another run in the top of the eighth inning before the Blue Jays’ bullpen closed out victory.
“They just outplayed us,” Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman said afterwards. Freeman, however, insisted the holders could turn around the series on the road, with ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto starting from the mound in game six. “Baseball is a hard game and it’s been hard for us the last two days,” Freeman said. “But we’ve been in this situation before. We can do it again.” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts also insisted all was not lost. “I know there’s more in there,” he said of his team. “We’ve been in a lot of elimination games, and we found a way to come out the other side…I like our chances.”
© 2024 AFP
