Andres Gimenez was 1-4 on Wednesday, with his eighth-inning single helping in getting his team a much needed win against the L.A. Dodgers at Rogers Place.Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images
It was dramatic if not a masterpiece but the Blue Jays slayed the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday to end a six-game losing streak and salvage a three-game series that had gone sideways on them from the start.
Davis Schneider walked and later scored on a throwing error by L.A. catcher Will Smith in the eighth inning as Toronto slipped past the World Series champions 4-3 at Rogers Centre.
It was the team’s third come-from-behind victory and couldn’t have come at a better time with the club (5-7) plummeting in the standings in the American League East Division.
The Blue Jays trailed after six innings and had gone 0-6 in those circumstances up until now but ended up showing some of the grit that propelled them to the American League championship in 2025 for the first time in 32 years.
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Even if it came in a somewhat laborious manner, fans loved it just the same, and maybe even more, raising a clatter. The fact that the Dodgers were the victims made it a little sweet; in the World Series last year they won the final two games in Toronto to clinch their second consecutive championship.
“You need a win to get back to neutral,” manager John Schneider said. “You have to do whatever it takes, get a big hit or score on an error, whatever.
“It felt like what we do when we are going well.”
The Jays are off Thursday and then the Minnesota Twins visit for three games beginning Friday.
Toronto took a 1-0 lead in the third inning – its first lead of the series – on a run-scoring double down the third-base line by Jesús Sánchez. The hit came on a 99-mile-per-hour Shohei Ohtani fastball and plated Daulton Varsho, who had walked.
The lead didn’t last long, though. With one out in the top of the fourth Smith hit a soft grounder to third for a single. Kazuma Okamoto tried to make a play on it but his throwing error allowed Smith to advance to second. Freddie Freeman then followed with a single to centre field that drove Smith home, tying the contest at 1-1.
Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Shohei Ohtani went six innings on Wednesday, giving up four hits with a pair of strikeouts and one walk.John E. Sokolowski/Reuters
Both starting pitchers were extremely sharp. Through five innings, Dylan Cease gave up four hits and one earned run, struck out eight and walked four. In six innings, Ohtani allowed one unearned run on four hits with two strikeouts and a single walk.
In the top of the sixth L.A. loaded the bases with none out on a pair of walks and a single. Toronto brought in Louis Varland for his seventh appearance of the young season and he retired Teoscar Hernández on a sacrifice fly, struck out Andy Pages looking and induced a grounder by Alex Freeland. The sacrifice fly put the Dodgers back on top at 2-1.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. doubled to begin the bottom half of the inning but immediately ran himself into an out at third on a grounder to shortstop Miguel Rojas.
Varland retired all three batters he faced.
“I love Louis Varland,” John Schneider said. “He has quickly become one of my favourite players.”
The Dodgers added another run in the seventh to go ahead 3-1 on a single by Smith but the Jays responded with two runs in the bottom half.
Schneider came on as a pinch hitter and worked a lead-off walk out of reliever Jack Dreyer. With one out, Tyler Heineman singled to centre and Schneider advanced to second. George Springer doubled to score Schneider, and Varsho singled to drive in Myles Straw, who pinch-ran for Heineman, to even the score at 3-3.
Schneider walked with one out in the eighth and moved to third on a single by Andrés Giménez. The latter stole second and a poor throw by Smith allowed Schneider to dash home with the winning run.
Davis Schneider was doused after the Jays ended their losing streak with a win against their World Series opponents from last season.Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press
Jeff Hoffman came on in the ninth and earned his second save. He allowed a single and a walk but got Max Muncy to tap back to the mound to end the game. Hoffman had two strikeouts and now has 15 in 6 2/3rds innings.
It wasn’t a perfect triumph by any means but the Blue Jays needed it to crawl a bit out of the hole they have dug themselves.
With two wins to start the series against Minnesota they’d be 7-7 and things would look much brighter.