The Blue Jays bring the World Series back to Toronto with the lead, momentum and all the good vibes
los angeles — I did something on Wednesday that I’d never done before: I changed my choice. At noon ET at CBS Sports HQ at noon ET, I said the Dodgers would win Game 5 of the World Series. Six hours later, when I returned to CBS Sports headquarters from Dodger Stadium, I said I had changed my mind and was going to pick the Blue Jays. After the hit, a colleague asked me who I thought would win the series. And I said I think the Blue Jays. Before the series started, I predicted the Dodgers would win five games.
Now, after the Blue Jays’ 6-1 win in Game 5, I’m convinced the Blue Jays are a team. They got this series.
There has been a complete turnaround in the air for me and a large part of it is based on the consistency that the Blue Jays continue to show. There is a feeling in the club that is almost palpable. Surely every team that has been to the World Series has said similar things and every team that has gotten here thinking they are going to win it. But there is a feeling that is difficult to describe. The Blue Jays feel he simply won’t be denied.
There has been a lot of adversity, but they respond every time.
If they haven’t lost this series yet, they won’t.
They lost one of their best hitters, George Springer, to injury; He hasn’t played since leaving Game 3 early. They are using The guy who didn’t return from Tommy John surgery until the August rotation Along with a rookie who only made three MLB Starts before the qualifiers. They have a patchwork game. There is a 31-year-old rookie in Nathan Lukes, who has spent 10 years in the minors. Bo Bichette is playing injured. Their big offseason addition, Anthony Santander, was a relative bust in the regular season and is now injured and out. They lost the first two games of the ALCS at home and still won the series. They trailed 2-1 in the World Series after a heartbreaking loss in Game 3 for 18 innings. Now they lead 3-2. They will return home, where they are 54-27 this season. Including the playoffs, that home run record jumps to 59-30, the best mark in all of baseball.
“I can’t wait to see what Rogers Center will look, feel and sound like,” manager John Schneider said after Game 5.
They have been on a mission since late May. After the loss on May 27, they were 26-28. They went 68-40 the rest of the way, clinching their first AL East title since 2015.
“This is what we do. This is what we’ve been doing the last four months of the year,” Max Scherzer said Wednesday. “Once we started working in mid-May and June, when this club was created, everyone here knew what was going on. Then we started playing a different kind of ball. We reached the top level.”
The aforementioned rookie, 22-year-old Trey Yesavage, took complete control of the Dodgers offense in Game 5. He was amazing and was the star of the show in Game 5. He was heavy with his excellent slider and, as usual, used the splitter as an outfielder. He had 10 swings on the splitter, including seven whiffs. In all, he struck out 12 Dodgers, breaking the record for a rookie in a World Series game — coincidentally, it was Dodgers outfielder Don Newcomb who previously held the record (1949 Game 1).
“The best part is it was no different to the September game,” Chris Bassett said. “He’s complete and composed and the moment isn’t too big for him, which is crazy for how young he is… Some guys have a different build and he’s built differently. Coming in with that kind of confidence and coming into that spot, it’s like, damn.”
“That first game [Yesavage pitched]”You can see it’s different. He can take on anyone now,” Scherzer said.
Yesavage allowed just three hits in Game 5; Two of them were singles. He had never thrown a pitch in the seventh inning at first, not even in the minors. He completed seven innings in this round. He was brilliant.
“The maturity he has shown in dealing with these moments is truly impressive,” Beau Bichette said.
What about Davis Schneider? He has started just four playoff games so far of the Blue Jays’ 15 postseason games. He had not been hit by bullets. He was thrown into position, in part because of Springer’s injury. He homered on the first pitch of the game off two-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell. It’s just a next man up mentality with this team. Clement, Addison Barger, Dolton Varcho, Andres Jimenez and just about everyone. Isiah Kiner-Falefa even had an RBI single on this one.
Of course, there was also superstar Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who hit a home run right after Schneider. This was the first time in history that a team hit back-to-back home runs to start a World Series game. Snell had never given up the first two home runs of his career previously, so this was a double dose of history.
It was a great start to the game, followed by a special performance from Yesavage. It’s a special team.
By the way, Snell was in tremendous dominance heading into the World Series. The Blue Jays pounced on him twice in this series. He gave up 10 runs on 14 hits in 11 innings. That’s a 7.71 ERA. In his previous three playoff starts, he had a 0.86 ERA.
The Jays are unstoppable. A team that led the majors in batting average during the regular season and that can also get to power is a relentless team, even missing a few players due to injury. It was on display in both Games 4 and 5. They will hit big home runs but they will also hit together and make you pay for your mistakes.
Take the third round. The Dodgers had just cut the deficit to 2-1. Dolton Varsho sent a shot down the right field line. It was clearly a hit, but Teoscar Hernandez missed the hat-trick. Varsho then scored immediately with a sac fly. They just find ways to punish their opponents. Over and over again. A single and walk both came in to score in the seventh inning, pushing the lead to 5-1. A wild pitch contributed to a run in the eighth. They also hit 27 home runs in 16 postseason games. They just attack from every angle.
To reiterate, yes, every World Series team has to believe in themselves, but there is an air about these Jays. Just look at the other bunker. Did the Dodgers look like a hungry team fighting for their lives in Game 5 or did they look lifeless? Some of that is Yesavage’s dominant pitching, but the Dodgers made too many mistakes on the pitching and defensive side.
Look, the Dodgers can still win this series by bouncing back and looking like an elite version of themselves. They can win two games in Toronto. Will anyone be shocked? The Blue Jays are ready.
“We’ve been in situations where you know the show can change,” Scherzer said. “We just have to take care of things. We have to go 1-0 up, take it one game at a time and play the game we always play.”
“This is a great team and they are defending champions,” Bichette said of the Dodgers. “They will come out and fight, so we have to be prepared.”
I don’t think a Dodgers comeback will happen. I think the Blue Jays have this series. They are in control now and only need to win one game from two chances at home.
It won’t take two. Blue Jays in six. I was wrong before the series, but I’m tired of being wrong about this group of extraordinary men. They will soon be crowned World Series champions.