The Blue Jays’ strategy against Shohei Ohtani may have cost them the title

Of all the times the Toronto Blue Jays have walked Shohei Ohtani, they have lost Game 3 of the World Series because they did not walk him the one time.

They learned their lesson four times over.

Here’s another Babe Ruth comparison: Ruth played in 41 World Series games. He deliberately walked twice.

On Monday, in a World Series game, Ohtani was intentionally walked four times.

The situation called for it — no, begged for it — in the seventh inning. The Blue Jays led 5-4 with one out and the bases empty. Ohtani had already hit three times, with two doubles and a home run.

One night, they’ll finally be using four disc jockeys, and they’ve already taken down two of their four strongest putters George Springer and Beau Bechet. They needed a win in regulation, and they were eight teams back. When Ohtani took the hill, the Jays held a conference on the hill.

There really wasn’t much to discuss. their jug, Ceranthony Dominguezthe right-hander had a .132 batting average and .451 OPS this season — and the left-hander had a .277 batting average and .816 OPS.

Mookie Betts, who bats right-handed, was on deck. Freddie Freeman, who bats left-handed, would follow Betts, but he didn’t actually have three extra base hits.

The Blue Jays did not issue a clear intended walk to Ohtani.

“We’re trying to get around him,” Toronto manager John Schneider said. “You trust Ceranthoni to make the throws to do that. Sometimes it’s hard for pitchers to do that when you’re trying to throw the ball and you don’t put it where you want to put it.”

To summarize: We’re not trying to hit it, but we’re not going to walk on it intentionally.

Sure, he might chase down the field and hit the ball or make poor contact. However, if you throw the ball to Ohtani, you might miss your throw, and if he swings, he might hit a home run.

Dominguez lost the ball in the middle of the field. Ohtani’s home run tied the score at 5-5.

“Then all you have to do is take the bat out of his hands,” Schneider said.

The Blue Jays intentionally walked Ohtani in each of his next four plate appearances, three times with the bases empty and once with a runner on third base.

It’s too late. The Blue Jays and their increasingly patchwork lineup played 11 more innings, scoring no runs. The Dodgers have won in 18 innings, 6-5, and can move within one victory of the World Series on Tuesday.

In all, Ohtani reached base nine times, tying a postseason record. He became the first player in postseason history to hit multiple home runs, a double, and a walk in the same game. Not since Frank Isbell of the Chicago White Sox in 1906 has a player plated four extra-base hits in a World Series game.

Ruth had Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig batting behind him, but the two men battling behind Ohtani could end up Hall of Famers as well: eight-time All-Star Mookie Betts and nine-time All-Star Freddie Freeman, both former Most Valuable Players.

“There are certain times where I feel like you feel better when someone else hits you,” Schneider said. “If that other person was Mookie Betts or Freddie Freeman, it still hurts.”

Freeman hit a walk-off home run. Schneider said he will continue with Ohtani.

He has no choice. Balls fly in warm weather at Dodger Stadium. The marine layer dropped several potential home runs on Monday, but a heat warning was issued for Southern California on Tuesday and Wednesday, with the game-time temperature expected at 87 degrees on Tuesday and likely a little warmer on Wednesday.

“I get it,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “He’s the best player on the planet, and he was coming off a huge offensive night, and Jun smelled that and he wasn’t going to let Shuhei beat him at all, obviously, even when there’s no one on base and he puts him in his place to get the other players to beat him.”

Technically, one of the other players beat the Blue Jays on Monday. But Freeman wouldn’t have had a chance to beat them in the 18th inning if the Blue Jays had won in nine innings, which they might have had if Ohtani hadn’t hit that home run in the seventh.

Only then did the march begin.

“When you’re that excited and you’re hitting balls right or left center like Shohei did tonight, you know he was feeling good. So this is the right move,” Freeman said. “You don’t want Shohei to beat you, and let other players try to beat you after his first four hits. It took a lot longer, but we finally did it.”

The Angels adopted this strategy in the 2002 World Series. They walked Barry Bonds 13 times in the seven-game Series, including three intentional runs in the first five innings of Game 4.

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“I think it’s all relative,” said Roberts, a teammate of Bonds with the San Francisco Giants.

“Barry is the greatest batsman I’ve ever seen, but in this day and age there’s only him or maybe (Aaron) the judge. We’re lucky to have Mookie and Freddie behind him. But you don’t see that kind of behavior from opposing managers, and that’s just the ultimate sign of respect.”

Benito Santiago, a five-time All-Star, was competing against Bonds in 2002. No disrespect intended, but Betts and Freeman are more complete offensive threats.

Monday marks the 23rd anniversary of the Angels’ only World Series championship, which they won in part because they didn’t let Bonds beat them. The Blue Jays decided they wouldn’t let Ohtani beat them, but that decision may have come too late.