Toronto Blue Jays' Trey Yesavage pitches against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first inning.Nick Turchiaro/Reuters
Blue Jays batters pounded out 14 hits and drew four walks in Friday’s 11-4 thumping of the Dodgers in Game 1 of the World Series but a tip of the ballcap has to also be afforded to Toronto’s pitchers.
In his fourth start of the postseason, rookie Trey Yesavage laboured but limited Los Angeles’s dangerous lineup to two runs before he was replaced after four innings.
The bullpen then was called upon and pulled its weight.
The next five pitchers allowed only two runs and two hits and struck out eight as the Blue Jays pulled away.
The 22-year-old began the game by striking out Dodger superstar Shohei Ohtani as the sellout crowd of more than 44,000 roared at Rogers Centre.
“It was an insane experience that I’ll remember for the rest of my life,” Yesavage said of the fans. “I wish personally I could have done a little bit better, but that’s why this is a team sport.”
Trey Yesavage strikes out Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani in the first inning.Sammy Kogan/The Globe and Mail
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Toronto blew the game open by scoring nine times in the sixth inning. The rally included a pinch-hit grand slam by Addison Barger, the first in World Series history. A dozen batters roughed up one reliever after another.
Yesavage was long out of the game by then but watched the offensive explosion on a television in the clubhouse.
“I had some other pitchers in there with me, and we were jumping all around, high-fiving. It was great to see the offense rolling.”
“It was just madness,” Barger said.
Mason Fluharty followed Yesavage into the game and struck out the first hitter he faced – Ohtani – looking. After a single was given up and another out recorded, Seranthony Dominguez came in and retired Will Smith on a fly to right.
Dominguez worked a perfect sixth inning and was credited with the victory. Braydon Fisher, Chris Bassitt and Eric Lauer went the rest of the way.
Only Fisher was knicked – for a home run by Ohtani when the outcome was way past determined.
“It was a really good night tonight,” said Dominguez, who was obtained from Baltimore at the trade deadline. “Guys came in and kept the game inline. Everybody did a good job.”
Game 2 will be played on Saturday night before the best-of-seven series shifts to Los Angeles for three games – if a third is needed.
“It’s good to be up 1-0 but we got three more to win,” Davis Schneider, the outfielder, said. “They have such a good team over there we can’t take our foot off the pedal.”
Schneider gave props to the bullpen for its effort.
“We didn’t have to use our high-leverage guys and it puts us in a good spot,” Schneider said. “That’s great to see. It’s such a long season that it is important to save guys for later in the series.”