Tag: World Series baseball

Final Score: Dodgers 3 Blue Jays 1

Why The Dodgers Won: The Dodgers were able to put 3 runs on the board after 2 were out in the top of the 3rd. They were able to make it stand up for a 3 to 1 win over the Blue Jays to force a game 7. The Blue Jays did everything they wanted to do except score runs. They were able to get Yoshinobu Yamamoto out of the game after 6 innings. The Blue Jays had chances to score in the 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th but failed every time. They were 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position and left 8 men on base. The Dodgers were even worse overall in hitting, getting only 4 hits. They got 3 of those in that 3rd inning. It does not take a math major to figure out they got only 1 hit in the other 8 innings. They got 2 walks in the 3rd and another 2 walks for the rest of the game. The Dodger bullpen barely hung on, but hang on they did.

Key Moments Of The Game: In the top of the 3rd, the Dodgers had a runner on 2nd with 2 outs. Then came the dreaded intentional walk to Shohei Ohtani. Will Smith followed that up with a double, making the score 1-0. Freddie Freeman walked on 5 pitches, bringing the slumping Mookie Betts to the plate. He fell behind in the count 1-2 but lined a single to left on an up-and-in fastball. This scored 2 runs and gave the Dodgers a 3-0 lead. The Blue Jays bounced back in the bottom of the inning when George Springer got a big 2-out single to make the score 3-1. Then came the heartbreaking bottom of the 9th for the Blue Jays. Roki Sasaki got out of a 1st and 2nd, one-out jam in the bottom of the 8th. The bottom of the 9th got even worse. He hit the first batter, Alejandro Kirk. Addison Barger got a ground rule double that turned out to be a bad break for the Blue Jays. Even so, this put runners on 2nd and 3rd with no one out. The Dodgers brought in Tyler Glasnow. Ernie Clement swung at the first pitch that was up and in off the plate. He blooped it right to Freddie Freeman. This brought up the light-hitting Andres Gimenez. On the 2nd pitch of his at-bat, he swung at a pitch that was just off the outside of the plate. He went with the pitch and blooped it out to left field. That is when Addison Barger made the cardinal sin of breaking too far down the line toward third. The throw by Kiki Hernandez beat Barger to the bag, and the game was suddenly over. Glasnow got out of the inning by only throwing 3 pitches with none of them being in the strike zone.

Next Game: Tonight, in Toronto, game 7. This 7th game of the World Series is really difficult to get a read on. The Dodgers, even though they won game 6, are still in a team hitting slump. The Blue Jays, on the other hand, may be psyched out by not cashing in on all the opportunities they had to tie and win the game. Both pitching staffs are running on fumes. The game could go either way. It could be a wild scoring affair or a close, tight, low-scoring game. The most interesting part of the game will be how each team manages their pitching staffs. This will be the key to victory. I still like the Blue Jays’ chances. No matter what happens, I expect it to be a great game to end one of the best postseasons in the history of baseball. Let’s just hope that some umpire does not screw it up.

Final Score: Blue Jays 6 Dodgers 1

Why The Blue Jays Won: The Blue Jays overcame the 1st pitch home run jinx by starting the game with not one but two home runs to jump out to a 2-0 lead. It was 3 pitches and 2 home runs by Davis Schneider and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Unlike a lot of games where a team has led off with a home run the Blue Jays won this one. They got an outstanding, record-breaking pitching performance from 22-year-old Trey Yesavage. He went 7 innings, giving up just 1 run and 3 hits. He struck out 12 and walked no one. The Blue Jays’ bullpen gave up only 1 hit and a walk while striking out 3 more. As great as Yesavage was, the Blue Jays played some great defense behind him. They have not made an error in the Series. After the home runs, Blake Snell pitched pretty well for the 6 innings. The Blue Jays were only leading 3-1 going into the top of the 7th. They had scored another run in the top of the third when Teoscar Hernandez misplayed a liner down the right field line, allowing Daulton Varsho to open with a triple. Ernie Clement immediately drove him in with a sacrifice fly. In the top of the 7th, the Dodger management team continued to make bad decisions.

Key Moments Of The Game: The Dodgers made what I call an Aaron Boone panic move by changing the batting order for game 5. One of the oldest sports sayings is to go with what brought you here. Messing with the Dodger top of the order proved to be disastrous. Snell had thrown 93 pitches through 6 innings. I saw no problem on allowing Snell to come out for the 7th inning. Addison Barger opened the inning with a ground ball single down the left field line on a 5-pitch at-bat (98 pitches). The ball was not hit hard but was placed perfectly down the left line. During the Isiah Kiner-Falefa at-bat, Snell wild-pitched the runner to second. IKF, showing his Pirate roots, grounded out to short on 6 pitches (104) not advancing the runner. Snell walked the weak-hitting Andres Gimenez on 7 pitches (111). Even though he does strike out Davis Schneider, he wild-pitched Barger to third base. At this point, he has thrown 119 pitches. This is where the Dodgers decide to take out one of the best pitchers in baseball and bring in 23-year-old Edgardo Henriquez with 1st and 3rd and two outs to face Guerrero. Snell had gotten Guerrero to ground into a double play in his last at-bat. Henriquez threw the 3rd wild pitch of the inning to allow in the 4th Blue Jay run. He walked Guerrero and Bo Bichette singled to make the score 5-1. Henriquez was taken out and replaced by none other than Anthony (Are You Kidding Me) Banda. Miraculously, he gets out of the inning. Even more dumb founding, Banda comes out for the 8th. The Dodgers are not so lucky this time; he gives up a run on 2 hits. To show how bad this guy has been, his ERA actually goes down after this performance. Where in the hell was Roki Sasaki? I would have brought him in after the walk to Gimenez. The Blue Jays, thanks to some questionable moves by the Dodgers, go home with a 3-2 lead in the series.

Next Game: Tomorrow night, in Toronto. Can Yoshinobu Yamamoto do it one more time? Will the Dodgers continue to tinker with their lineup? I know Mookie Betts is in a slump. So was Shohei Ohtani before he had one of the greatest games in postseason history. Will the Dodgers admit their stupid mistake and put Betts back in the No. 2 spot? You have to go with your best in their accustomed positions and hope they figure it out. The other big plus for the Dodgers is that they are getting a day off. If ever a team needs to regroup, it is these Dodgers. Between this and Yamamoto starting, I think the Dodgers have the advantage in Game 6. That is not to say they will win. The one place Yamamoto does seem vulnerable is the 1st inning. It has been a back-and-forth series so far. The only really exciting game was the 18-inning marathon that the Dodgers won. It’s funny, that game may have cost them the series.

Final Score: Blue Jays 6 Dodgers 2

Why The Blue Jays Won: Both teams had to be tired coming off the 18-inning marathon on Monday night. Only the Dodgers really showed it. Two of their hottest hitters, Shohei Ohtani and Will Smith, went 0 for 7 with a walk. The team only scored 2 runs on 6 hits, and one of them was a garbage run in the bottom of the 9th. Shane Bieber pitched a nice 5 and 1/3 innings, but he did not have overwhelming stuff or command. He threw 81 pitches, with 33 being balls. He gave up 4 hits and walked 3, giving up 1 run. The Dodgers were 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position. The Dodger bullpen imploded in the 7th. The Blue Jays by far looked like the fresher team. It was a close game through 6 innings. The Blue Jays had a 2-1 lead thanks to a 2-run homer by Vlad Guerrero Jr. in the top of the 3rd. Then came the 7th inning, where a lot of questionable decisions were made.

Key Moments Of The Game: The Dodgers sent Shohei Ohtani out to start the 7th inning. In the previous inning, he had a couple of hard-hit outs. He did strike out the last batter, but his last two fastballs dipped to 96 MPH. Dalton Varsho put the first pitch of the inning, a 97 MPH fastball middle in about belt high, and drilled it into right field for a base hit. Ernie Clement took pitch number 3 of the inning, a 96 MPH fastball that was down and in, and doubled into left center field off the wall. Then the Dodgers decided to go with two of their most ineffective relievers in the postseason, Anthony Banda and Blake Treinen. They paid the price. They finished the inning by giving up 3 hits and a walk, allowing 4 runs to score. If you could have limited the damage to 1 run in that inning, you would have still been in the game, they wound up getting rocked. When the inning was over, Banda’s postseason ERA was 10.38 and Treinen’s was 8.31 even though he was not charged with giving up a run in 1/3 of an inning. This should be their last appearance in the postseason. If it is not, the Dodgers will deserve whatever the results are. The game was broken open 6 to 1, and the Dodgers never really threatened after that. They scored 1 run in the bottom of the 9th, but it was traded for an out. A solid win for the Blue Jays.

Nest Game: Tonight in Los Angeles. With the win, the Blue Jays assured themselves of going back to Toronto for a game 6. After game 2, I wrote that I thought the winner of this series would be the team that would win that close, hard-fought, down-to-the-wire game. What I did not know was that the game would go 18 innings. This 18-inning win seemed to have an adverse effect on the entire Dodger organization. You could argue whether they should have even stayed with the planned battery for game 4. At least consider giving Will Smith a rest after catching 18 innings the night before. Then, with the game on the line, why pitch Banda and Trienen? There were obviously other options. Jack Dreyer was one of them, pitching 2 innings no less. The Dodgers showed their age after the game 3 marathon in more ways than one. No matter what happens tonight, the Blue Jays accomplished their goal of getting back to Toronto. If they win tonight, they have an excellent chance of keeping the Dodgers from winning back-to-back championships.

Final Score: Dodgers 6 Blue Jays 5 in 18 innings

Why The Dodgers Won: The much-maligned Dodger bullpen held the potent Blue Jay offense scoreless for 11 innings. Will Klein shut out the Blue Jays over the last 4 innings. He gave up 1 hit, walked 2, and struck out 5. He appeared in 14 games for the Dodgers this year. In a game that featured 5 home runs, 31 hits, 19 walks, 6 of which were intentional, 2 hit by pitches, and 2 Dodgers errors, it was amazing that only 11 runs were scored. Shohei Ohtani was 4 for 4 with 5 walks. The scoring opportunities were numerous, and both teams were just as inept in bringing in runs. The Blue Jays were 2 for 12 with runners in scoring position and left 19 runners on base. The Dodgers were 2 for 14 with runners in scoring position and left 18 men on base. There were 49 runners on the base paths during the game. Only 6 of those runners scored. Only 4 runs were driven in by hits that were not home runs. There were only 2 runs driven in by singles, one of which was only because Bo Bichette can’t run. The Blue Jays used 9 pitchers. The Dodgers used 10 pitchers. The other surprising fact about this game, besides the Dodger bullpen, was that the Blue Jays struck out 16 times. After 17 and 1/2 grueling innings, the game ended suddenly with Freddie Freeman taking a center-cut 3-2 sinker over the center field fence to walk it off for the Dodgers.

The Key Moments Of The Game: There were too many to mention. The bottom of the 13th had to be an analytical nightmare. Tommy Edman led off the inning with a double. Then the Dodgers bunted, heaven forbid, him over to third base. Eric Lauer then got pinch hitter Alex Call to pop out on a 2-0 pitch. Then the Blue Jays decided to do the cardinal sin of intentionally walking the batter not once but twice to load the bases. Of course, those batters were Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts. They did this to face Freddie Freeman. On the 2nd pitch, Freeman hit it hard but right at the center fielder to end the inning. It was a victory for old school baseball. Freeman would get his revenge in the bottom of the 18th.

Next Game: Tonight, in Los Angeles. It will be interesting to see what effects last night’s game will have on both teams. There could be physical and psychological effects. The Blue Jays’ offense has to be down from having so many chances to win the game but not coming through. The Dodgers’ bullpen all of a sudden has to be feeling real good about themselves. The Dodgers are going from one extreme to the other. They went from possibly being over-rested to the point of exhaustion. This is a team that is a little bit long in the tooth. Even though they won and it is a good thing, you have to wonder a little bit just how much they might have in the tank for games 4 and 5. Then there is the injury to George Springer. Will he miss a game or the entire Series? This would definitely hurt the Blue Jays’ cause. This was by far the most exciting and intense game of the Series so far. Will a win like this give the Dodgers momentum, or will they be running on fumes for the rest of the series? We will find out tonight.

It will be the No. 1 seed Toronto Blue Jays going up against the No. 3 seed Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series. All the expanded playoff worriers can breathe a sigh of relief. No low seeds are getting into this World Series. Again, it is a big boy series. Maybe not quite as big as last time when the top two payrolls made it. The Blue Jays are no slouches when it comes to spending with the 5th largest payroll. Even being 5th puts you almost 100 million dollars behind the Dodgers. The Dodgers made a huge financial commitment to win back-to-back World Series. They are at the doorstep of making this all come true. What these teams did during the regular season seems to be pretty meaningless right now. The Brewers beat the Dodgers in all 6 meetings during the regular season. They were not competitive in the Championship Series and were swept by the Dodgers. Position by position these teams are pretty evenly matched. The Dodgers have the edge at catcher, second base, third base, shortstop, and DH. The Blue Jays are better at first base, all three outfield positions, and pinch hitting. We all know who the Blue Jays are. They are a team that puts the ball in play, walks more than the average team, and yet still hit for power. With the Dodgers’ new starting well-rested rotation, they have 4 pitchers that have some of the highest strikeouts per nine innings for starting pitchers in the majors. If they had enough innings, they would all be in the top 10. This will be one of the keys to the series. Can the Blue Jays continue to make contact against this elite rotation? Then there is what I call the X factor. How will having 7 days off affect the Dodgers? We talk about hitters being affected by this when they don’t face live pitching for longer than normal. Remember the Dodger bats were not exactly on fire in the Brewer series. The pitching could be affected also. Pitchers are a process and routine oriented bunch. Starting pitchers go through a routine every 5 to 6 days. Now that routine will be stretched to 7 days and beyond for some. Only time will tell. If the Blue Jays win the first two games of the series, many people will be pointing to the long wait the Dodgers had to go through. If the starting rotation of the Dodgers gets rocked in the first two games, it will really be brought up. The Dodger rotation was so dominant in the NLCS. In my view, this long delay for the Dodgers will be a factor. The Blue Jays could win the first two games, but it does not guarantee them a series win. The defending champs will not go down easily. I will be rooting for the Blue Jays. I still think it will be a hard-fought, exciting series that will go the distance. At this point, I think it is a toss-up.

I will go back to my Pirates Morning Report format for each of the World Series games. I will give the final score, tell why the team won, and what the key moment of the game was. It will boil down to which team can overcome the other team’s strength. If the Blue Jays can keep their strikeouts to 6 or below, then I think they have a real shot. The Dodgers are riding high. If I am wrong about this delay and the Dodgers grab game 1, then it is going to be very difficult for the Blue Jays to keep the Dodgers from repeating. If that happens, then the Dodgers have spent their money well. It all starts tomorrow.