Toronto Blue Jays Defeat Los Angeles Dodgers 11-4 in World Series Opener
ARLINGTON, TX - The Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 11-4 in the opening game of the World Series on Friday, marking a dominant start to the championship series. The Blue Jays, coming off a seven-game ALCS victory against Seattle that concluded Monday, recorded 14 hits in the win.
The Dodgers took an early 2-0 lead against Blue Jays rookie pitcher Trey Yesavage, 22, on RBI singles from Kiké Hernández in the second and Will Smith in the third. yesavage, making his fourth postseason start – exceeding his regular-season total – became the second-youngest pitcher to start a World Series opener, following Brooklyn’s Ralph Branca in 1947. He successfully navigated key situations,leaving the bases loaded in the second inning by retiring Shohei Ohtani and stranding a runner at third in the third with a strikeout of Max Muncy.
Toronto responded with a powerful offensive display.Varsho hit a home run off Dodgers starter Blake Snell, the first allowed to a left-handed hitter since Juan Soto connected for the Yankees on June 2 of the previous year. Snell surrendered a career-high five hits on changeups, allowing five runs, eight hits, and three walks over five-plus innings.
A significant sixth inning saw Toronto break the game open, scoring six runs. Clement singled off reliever Emmet Sheehan for a 3-2 lead, followed by a bases-loaded walk by Nathan Lukes and an RBI single from Andrés Giménez. Barger then hit a 413-foot home run off left-hander Anthony Banda, extending the lead to 9-2. Kirk added a home run, his fourth of the postseason.
Seranthony Domínguez earned the win for Toronto with 1 1/3 hitless innings.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts acknowledged his team’s struggles, stating, “Blake just didn’t have good fastball command…There were just a couple bad walks in there,” and later, “We just didn’t make pitches when we need to to keep that game close. We need to be better.”
The Blue Jays’ starting lineup notably featured Bo Bichette, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and varsho, the first trio of sons of former major leaguers to start for one team in a Series game. Bichette, returning from a sprained left knee, played second base for the first time in six years.
Up Next:
Game 2 of the World series will be played Saturday night, featuring Dodgers RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Blue Jays RHP Kevin Gausman as the starting pitchers. Yamamoto previously won Game 2 of the Series last year, while Gausman will be making his Series debut.
