The 6th elimination game of this postseason did not disappoint. George Springer hit a 3-run home run in the bottom of the 7th to give the Blue Jays a 4-3 lead they never relinquished. In fact, the Mariners never got a runner on base in the 8th or 9th. The Mariners’ pitchers issued 3 walks, and 2 of those scored runs. In my mind, one of the big reasons the Mariners lost this series was the way manager Dan Wilson handled the pitching staff. He gave a quick hook to pitchers who seemed to be pitching effectively. In some cases, it did not cost the team, but other times it did. It also allowed the Blue Jays to see some pitchers over and over again. In this game, he took out George Kirby after 4 innings. He had only thrown 65 pitches and had given up 1 run on 4 hits. The last two innings he had given up just one hit. The Mariners decided to use Bryan Woo. He pitched in game 5 and did not look too bad considering he had not pitched since mid-September. In the bottom of the 5th, Woo walked the first batter but then got a strikeout and a double play ball to end the inning. In the bottom of the 6th, he gave up a single. He started the eventful bottom of the 7th. He gave up a walk, a single, and a sacrifice bunt, putting runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out. Woo had struck out George Springer in the bottom of the 5th. Wilson decided to take out one of the best pitchers on the team. He brought in Eduard Bazardo. This would be his 6th inning of relief against the Blue Jays. He had gotten George Springer out the 2 times he faced him. The 3rd time would be the charm for Springer. On the 2nd pitch, he took a 96 MPH sinker and drilled it into the seats for the game-changing home run. It will be the Toronto Blue Jays hosting the Los Angeles Dodgers starting on Friday.
Anybody who does not think that the Dodgers are going to win this World Series has not been watching this postseason. It has been a dominant performance thus far. We will see if having a week off will derail them somewhat. It is the only thing that I think can be a factor here. They will be able to set up their rotation the way they want. With three days off, I would think the Blue Jays will be able to also. Even though I think the Dodgers will win back-to-back World Series, I will be rooting for the Blue Jays. For the Blue Jays to have any success at all, they will have to solve the Dodger starting rotation. You have to wonder if having all this time off could even have a detrimental effect on the pitching. The World Series should start on Wednesday, but MLB is just stupid. When you have a postseason this good, you do not want to give people other options to watch for very long. I do think the Dodgers will have their work cut out for them. I do think this much time off cannot help them. Whether it will affect them enough to allow the Blue Jays to win the first two games, only time will tell. If it does, all I can say is thank you, Major League Baseball.
The Goofy Game of Golf/Life Searching for the Answer 