Griffin Floyd
The Toronto Blue Jays pushed the Los Angeles Dodgers to the brink of elimination on Wednesday, Oct. 29, winning 6-1 at Dodger Stadium to take a 3-2 series lead heading back to the Great White North.
Blue Jays’ rookie Trey Yesavage, who’s made more postseason starts than regular season starts in his two month long big league career, pitched seven masterful innings, and the Dodgers’ bullpen continued to hurt their chances late.
Here are the winners and losers from Game 5.
Winner: Trey Yesavage
Blue Jays rookie Trey Yesavage set a rookie record with 12 strikeouts on Wednesday night, mowing through the Dodgers’ billion dollar lineup for seven innings of one-run ball. Yesavage needed just 104 pitches to complete his night despite racking up the K’s, landing 71 for strikes.
After getting chased from Game 1 early on, Yesavage did what he’s done all postseason, rebounding for a stellar performance and allowing just three hits and no walks. Despite his youth and inexperience (Wednesday’s start was the eighth of his big league career), the 22-year-old right-hander continues to prove that there’s no moment too bright for him.
Winner: Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit his second home run of the World Series, and the Blue Jays improved to 7-1 this postseason when he clears the fences.
Toronto started on a tear, with fill-in leadoff hitter Davis Schneider — taking the place of injured slugger George Springer — hitting a home run off Dodgers’ left-hander Blake Snell on the first pitch of the game. Guerrero Jr. proved that Schneider’s homer wasn’t a fluke, taking Snell deep just two pitches later and setting the tone for yet another strong performance at the plate.
Guerrero finished his night 1-for-3 with the home run and an intentional walk, and his batting average (.415) remains well north of .400 during this epic postseason run.
Loser: Blake Snell
Although the Blue Jays tagged Blake Snell for two home runs in the first inning, he deserves credit for settling down from there. Completing six innings with three earned runs to his name, Snell even did enough for a quality start.
However, Dodgers’ manager Dave Roberts decided to tempt fate, sending Snell — already at 92 pitches — out for the seventh inning. Clearly tiring, the left-hander bookended a groundout with a single and a walk, then struck out Schneider for the second out of the inning.
Roberts went to the bullpen, and Edgardo Henriquez promptly allowed both inherited runners to score. The Dodgers’ shaky bullpen doesn’t just blow games late: they also demand more of the team’s starters, forcing them to overextend their limits.
Loser: Dodgers’ Offense
The Dodgers’ mighty offense continued to sputter, managing just four hits and looking thoroughly outclassed by a rookie pitcher in front of their own home crowd.
Los Angeles batters struck out 15 times and took just one at-bat with a runner in scoring position. They’ve now scored just four runs in the last 29 innings, dating back to their 18-inning marathon win in Game 3.
If they can’t find out how to generate some offense soon, they’re going to go home empty-handed once again, suffering yet another postseason collapse despite entering October with the most talented roster in all of baseball. The odds aren’t in their favor: the Dodgers need to win two games on the road, some 2,170 miles from home, to avoid that fate.
