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Blue Jays manager says pitcher Yesavage is raising ceiling for team<\/p>\n
Schneider hails Yesavage\u2019s impact after dominant performance puts Blue Jays on brink of title.<\/p>\n
TORONTO \u2013 One of the greatest postseasons by a pitcher in modern baseball history saved the Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a>\u2019 season. And one of the wildest game-ending plays in World Series history – a fly ball to shallow left field, a catch and heady throw to double a rookie off second base – stunned the Toronto Blue Jays<\/a>, who will stagger into a winner-takes-all match trying to forget that the trophy could already be theirs.<\/p>\n The Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays will play for the World Series championship in Game 7, this Fall Classic knotted at three games apiece after the Dodgers\u2019 3-1 victory in Game 6.<\/p>\n That’s the extremely simplified version.<\/p>\n The deeper cut: The Blue Jays had the tying runs in scoring position and the winning run at the plate with nobody out, 44,710 fans at the Rogers Centre suddenly perked up after Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto lulled to sleep.<\/p>\n And suddenly: Despair.<\/p>\n Dodgers manager Dave Roberts pulled rookie closer R\u014dki Sasaki from the game after Addison Barger’s double – scorched so hard, at 105.5 mph, it wedged into the wall in left center field – put the tying runs at second and third.<\/p>\n The next man up? Tyler Glasnow, expected to start Game 7 but now needed to save the day. He elicited an infield pop-up from Ernie Clement, and then Andr\u00e9s Gim\u00e9nez looped a fly ball into shallow left field. Dodgers playoff veteran Kik\u00e9 Hern\u00e1ndez closed on the ball and made a decent catch.<\/p>\n And Barger, still amped from his double and itching to score the tying run, wandered too far off second. Hern\u00e1ndez fired to second baseman Miguel Rojas. Double play. Game over. Come back tomorrow.<\/p>\n Technically, Mookie Betts provided the decisive advantage, as the slumping superstar\u2019s two-run single to cap a three-run third inning stood up, keeping alive the Dodgers\u2019 chance to become the first team to repeat as World Series champions since the 1998-2000 New York Yankees.<\/p>\n Yet for the second time in a week, it was Yamamoto who carried the Dodgers to victory, continuing a postseason for the ages.<\/p>\n Coming off consecutive complete games \u2013 unheard of in this era\u2019s postseason, and impressive enough in any \u2013 Yamamoto gave them six innings of five-hit ball, striking out six and walking one.<\/p>\n His totals for this World Series: Two starts, two victories, two runs given up in 15 innings \u2013 a 1.20 ERA \u2013 and 14 strikeouts to just one walk.<\/p>\n His totals for this postseason: Five starts, four victories, five earned runs given up in 35 2\/3 innings \u2013 a 1.26 ERA \u2013 and 32 strikeouts to just five walks.<\/p>\n It is a definitive autumnal run, putting Yamamoto up there with the likes of Cole Hamels, Madison Bumgarner, Nathan Eovaldi and Stephen Strasburg as aces navigating the modern game\u2019s endless rounds of playoffs \u2013 yet performing like an ace all the way through.<\/p>\n And now, Game 7, and another round of intrigue.<\/p>\n When will the Dodgers deploy the great two-way star, Shohei Ohtani, on the mound? Can Max Scherzer \u2013 who started Game 7 in the Washington Nationals\u2019 2019 championship, the last time baseball’s ultimate game was contested –\u00a0 find one more star turn in his 41-year-old bones?<\/p>\n Back-to-back, or the Commissioner\u2019s Trophy, back in Toronto?<\/p>\n Delicious questions to ponder. And we have Yamamoto to thank for it.<\/p>\n \u2014 Gabe Lacques<\/p>\n Here’s how Friday’s game unfolded:<\/p>\n R\u014dki Sasaki came in to pitch the eighth for the Dodgers and gave up a leadoff single to George Springer and walked Vladimir Guerrero Jr. with one out. After a mound visit, the rookie Sasaki got Bo Bichette to pop out and Daulton Varsho to ground out and strand the tying runs.<\/p>\n TORONTO – In a perfect world, the Dodgers would have handed the ball from Yoshinobu Yamamoto to R\u014dki Sasaki in World Series Game 6, and tell the Blue Jays, “See you tomorrow night!”<\/p>\n Well, perfection is pretty hard to find in baseball, yet Justin Wrobleski made sure to replicate the Dodgers’ dream scenario.\u00a0<\/p>\n Wrobleski provided a gutsy seventh inning of work at Rogers Centre, striking out Alejandro Kirk and Andr\u00e9s Gim\u00e9nez to ensure Ernie Clement’s double couldn’t hurt them. And now the Dodgers are six outs from Game 7 as they hold a 3-1 lead in the eighth inning.\u00a0<\/p>\n Wrobleski capped the inning by winning an eight-pitch battle with Gim\u00e9nez, blowing a 97 mph fastball by him and then screaming in exultation to leave the tying run at the plate.\u00a0<\/p>\n Dave Roberts suggested that Shohei Ohtani will be in the team’s pitching plans if the Fall Classic goes the distance.<\/p>\n “Win this game tonight, then we can kind of circle up and have that conversation for tomorrow,” Roberts told reporters before Game 6.<\/p>\n TORONTO – If that was the last pitch Yoshinobu Yamamoto threw this October, it was appropriately effective.\u00a0<\/p>\n With his pitch count nearing 100 and the tying runs on base, the Dodgers ace buried a split-finger pitch in the dirt that Daulton Varsho could not resist, striking out the lefty to maintain the Dodgers’ 3-1 lead heading into the top of the seventh at Rogers Centre.\u00a0<\/p>\n Yamamoto was cruising with two outs and nobody on before Vladimir Guerrero Jr. lofted a double down the let field line, prompting a mound visit from pitching coach Mark Prior.\u00a0<\/p>\n And as Bo Bichette worked a seven-pitch walk, lefty Justin Wrobleski loosened up in the Dodgers bullpen. But the Dodgers stuck with their guy and on his 96th pitch, uncorked a nasty splitter that Varsho whiffed on.\u00a0<\/p>\n With a fully rested R\u014dki Sasaki lurking in the bullpen, the Dodgers are nine outs from forcing Game 7.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Blue Jays are expected to start 41-year-old Max Scherzer in a Game 7<\/p>\n TORONTO – The Dodgers are more than halfway to forcing a World Series Game 7. And the way Yoshinobu Yamamoto is pitching, that gulf to clear doesn’t look so wide.\u00a0<\/p>\n Yamamoto has faced just three batters over the minimum as the Dodgers take a 3-1 lead over the Blue Jays into the top of the sixth.\u00a0<\/p>\n Coming off consecutive complete games – a playoff feat unheard of in this era – Yamomoto is keeping \u00a0himself in the conversation for a trifecta. His only blemish came in the third inning, when George Springer cashed in Addison Barger with an RBI single to trim the Dodgers’ lead.\u00a0<\/p>\n In the top of the first, Max Muncy booted a grounder for an error – and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. immediately grounded into a double play.\u00a0<\/p>\n In the fourth, Bo Bichette’s one-out single preceded Daulton Varsho’s inning-ending double play. And in the fifth, Mookie Betts booted another grounder that was ruled a hit. No matter. Yamomoto got a fly to center from Andr\u00e9s Gim\u00e9nez to end the inning.<\/p>\n And that’s done plenty to silence a stuffed Rogers Centre fixing to celebrate a championship. Alas, Yamamoto has not issued a walk while striking out five, keeping his pitch count an economical 75.\u00a0<\/p>\n If necessary, Game 7 of the World Series would be played on Saturday, Nov. 1 in Toronto.<\/p>\n Addison Barger led off the bottom of the third with a double off Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who then retired Eenie Clement and Andres Gimenez. With two outs, George Springer had the green light on a 3-0 pitch and laced an RBI single to center field, cutting Toronto’s deficit to 3-1.<\/p>\n TORONTO – The Shohei Ohtani intentional walk has returned. And finally, Mookie Betts and the Dodgers made the Blue Jays pay.\u00a0<\/p>\n Will Smith ended a string of offensive futility in the third inning of World Series Game 6 by lining an RBI double down the left field line off Kevin Gausman ,and two batters after an Ohtani intentional walk, Mookie Betts lined a two-run single to left field, giving the Dodgers a 3-0 lead heading to the bottom of the third.<\/p>\n Ohtani famously reached base all nine times in the Dodgers’ 18-inning Game 3 victory and the thinking was he might never see another pitch to hit.\u00a0<\/p>\n Yet the Blue Jays navigated around Ohtani in winning Games 3 and 4, largely due to a lineup wholly ineffectual around him. In Game 6, Tommy Edman broke up Gausman’s seven-up, seven-down start with a double to the right field corner. Toronto manager John Schneider opted for a two-out intentional walk to Ohtani, and Will Smith punished him for it with an RBI single to left.\u00a0<\/p>\n A Freddie Freeman walk loaded the bases for Betts, whose 3-for-23 World Series performance prompted a drop from second to third and finally fourth in the lineup.\u00a0<\/p>\n Yet with one swing, Betts ended that schneid and one more: The Dodgers were 0-for-13 with the bases loaded before that swing.\u00a0<\/p>\n TORONTO – The Dodgers had one week to prepare for a second look at Kevin Gausman. Knew the diet would largely be split-finger fastballs. That it would behoove them to lay off the pitch.\u00a0<\/p>\n And they just can’t help themselves in Game 6 of the World Series.\u00a0<\/p>\n Gausman struck out five of the first six batters he faced – finishing all of them off with the trusty splitty – as the Blue Jays and Dodgers are locked in a scoreless tie.\u00a0 Gausman served immediate notice, punching out Shohei Ohtani, getting swings and misses on three split-fingers, two out of the zone. Through two innings, he’s elicited 11 swings and misses on 15 splitters.\u00a0<\/p>\n This is a game the Dodgers have to win. Gausman’s early showing will only heighten the pressure on their own ace, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who also posted a pair of spotless innings.\u00a0<\/p>\n Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up a one-out single to Nathan Lukes \u2013 that should have been scored an error on third baseman Max Muncy \u2013 but got Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to ground into an inning-ending double play to send the game to the second inning scoreless.<\/p>\n Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman struck out Shohei Ohtani, Will Smith and Freddie Freeman in a perfect first inning.<\/p>\n Gausman threw 16 pitches in the frame, 11 for strikes.<\/p>\n TORONTO \u2014 George Springer will not miss the\u00a0Toronto Blue Jays<\/a>\u2019 chance to win their first World Series since 1993. Springer, who exited World Series Game 3 wrenching his right side on a swing, is back atop Toronto’s lineup in Game 6.<\/p>\n The Blue Jays came back from a 2-1 deficit to take a 3-2 World Series lead without him. Yet Springer\u2019s playoff exploits \u2013 an .884 OPS and four home runs, including a go-ahead\u00a0three-run shot in ALCS Game 7<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 have not been forgotten by his teammates.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat he\u2019s already done for this team during the playoffs has been so big for us,” infielder Bo Bichette said before Game 6. “I think having him in the lineup probably calms us all down a bit.\u201d<\/p>\n TORONTO \u2014\u00a0Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a>\u00a0manager Dave Roberts knows the significance and consequences of\u00a0Friday\u2019s World Series game<\/a>.<\/p>\n They win Friday night (8 p.m. ET on FOX) against the\u00a0Toronto Blue Jays<\/a>, and they extend their season, forcing a Game 7 at the Rogers Centre.<\/p>\n They lose, and their season is abruptly over. And, fair or not, it will be considered a failure.<\/p>\n This is the way it works when you have\u00a0one of the highest payrolls<\/a>, the most talent in the game, and are heavy favorites to repeat as World Series champions. \u2013 Bob Nightengale<\/p>\n TORONTO \u2013 One of the game\u2019s top two iconic franchises, loaded with international superstars, battling Canada\u2019s only\u00a0Major League Baseball<\/a>\u00a0club has produced audience metrics that range from pleasantly surprising to universally bountiful.<\/p>\n For Major League Baseball, this\u00a0Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a>–Toronto Blue Jays<\/a>\u00a0matchup has been a global smash, what with historic performances from the incomparable Shohei Ohtani and\u00a0Yoshinobu Yamamoto<\/a>\u00a0to the presence of the Blue Jays, who have captivated Toronto and all of Canada like never before.<\/p>\n Game 1 averaged 32.6 million viewers across the USA, Canada and Japan, most since Game 7 of the 2016 World Series. And its combined Game 1-2 audience of 19.8 million in USA and Canada was up 24% from last season, also the highest since that historic 2016 Cubs-Cleveland battle. \u2014 Gabe Lacques<\/p>\n TORONTO \u2014 It’s only that the Dodgers’ biggest pitching star of all, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, will be the one starting Friday to save their season, trying to become only the fourth pitcher in history to throw three complete games in a single postseason.<\/p>\n If he pitches anything\u00a0like he did in Game 2<\/a>, when he threw a four-hit complete game, retiring the final 20 batters of the game for the first time in a World Series game since Don Larsen\u2019s perfect game in 1956, you can book a Game 7.<\/p>\n \u201cMan, hopefully he’s a little tired,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said, \u201cthrowing that many innings. He’s unique because he’s got what seems like six or seven pitches, and can kind of morph into different pitchers as the game kind of goes on.” \u2014 Bob Nightengale<\/p>\n Bob Nightengale: Blue Jays 5, Dodgers 2<\/p>\n There\u2019s no stopping the Jays now. They are treating opposing starters as if they\u2019re wearing\u00a0Colorado Rockies<\/a>\u00a0uniforms. They\u2019ll be celebrating deep into the hockey season after this night.\u00a0Expert MLB daily picks:\u00a0Unique MLB betting insights only at USA TODAY<\/a><\/p>\n Gabe Lacques: Blue Jays 4, Dodgers 2<\/p>\n This series has exposed anyone tempted to be a prisoner of the moment. And Yoshinobu Yamamoto will give the Dodgers a very fighting chance to stave off elimination. But in Games 3-5 in Los Angeles, the Blue Jays outscored the Dodgers 8-1 in the seventh through ninth innings. Yamamoto won\u2019t throw a complete game this time. And that Dodgers bullpen isn\u2019t getting any better.\u00a0<\/p>\n Steve Gardner: Dodgers 3, Blue Jays 2 (10 innings)<\/p>\n The pitching matchup should be a great one, especially now that the bullpens have had time to reset. It\u2019s going to be tough to manufacture runs so look for the longball to decide it, possibly off the bat of Shohei Ohtani in the late innings.<\/p>\n Jesse Yomtov: Dodgers 7, Blue Jays 3<\/p>\n Dodgers will get a couple of home runs and live to fight another day, giving us the first seven-game World Series since 2019.<\/p>\n (As of 8:15 p.m. ET Friday)<\/p>\n Veteran right-hander Kevin Gausman takes the mound for the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 6.<\/p>\n Gausman went 10-11 with a 3.59 ERA in the regular season and has made five playoff appearances this year, posting a 2.55 ERA in 24 \u2154 innings.<\/p>\n The Toronto Blue Jays won back-to-back World Series titles in 1992 and 1993, the only championships in franchise history.<\/p>\n Pitchers (12)<\/strong>: LHP Anthony Banda, LHP Jack Dreyer, RHP Tyler Glasnow, RHP Edgardo Henriquez, LHP Clayton Kershaw, RHP Will Klein, RHP Roki Sasaki, RHP Emmet Sheehan, LHP Blake Snell, RHP Blake Treinen, LHP Justin Wrobleski, RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto.<\/p>\n Position, two-way players (14)<\/strong>: SS Mookie Betts, OF Alex Call, OF Justin Dean, INF\/OF Tommy Edman, 1B Freddie Freeman, INF\/OF Kik\u00e9 Hern\u00e1ndez, OF Teoscar Hern\u00e1ndez, INF\/OF Hyeseong Kim, 3B Max Muncy, DH\/P Shohei Ohtani, OF Andy Pages, INF Miguel Rojas, C Ben Rortvedt, C Will Smith.<\/p>\n Pitchers (12)<\/strong>: RHP Chris Bassitt, RHP Shane Bieber, RHP Seranthony Dominguez, RHP Braydon Fisher, LHP Mason Fluharty, RHP Kevin Gausman, RHP Jeff Hoffman, LHP Eric Lauer, LHP Brendon Little, RHP Max Scherzer, RHP Louis Varland, RHP Trey Yesavage.<\/p>\n Position players (14)<\/strong>: C Tyler Heineman, C Alejandro Kirk, INF\/OF Addison Barger, INF Bo Bichette, INF Ernie Clement, INF Ty France, INF Andr\u00e9s Gim\u00e9nez, INF Vladimir Guerrero Jr., INF Isiah Kiner-Falefa, OF Nathan Lukes, OF Davis Schneider, OF George Springer, OF Myles Straw, OF Daulton Varsho.<\/p>\n The 2025 World Series marks the Dodgers’ 27th appearance in the Fall Classic.<\/p>\n\n
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