2026 Predictions and Projections: Lindy's Baseball Preview

From Lindy's 2026 Baseball Review:

AL East Projected Finish

Blue Jays
Orioles
Red Sox
Yankees
Rays

AL Division Winners: Blue Jays, Royals, Mariners
AL Wild Cards: Orioles, Red Sox, Tigers
AL Champion: Mariners

NL Divisions: Atlanta, Brewers, Dodgers
NL Wild Cards: Cubs, Phillies, Padres
NL Champion: Dodgers

AL MVP: Julio Rodriguez, Mariners
AL Cy Young: Garrett Crochet, Red Sox
AL Rookie: Samuel Basallo, Orioles
AL Rookie Pitcher: Payton Tolle, Red Sox
AL Manager: Matt Quatraro, Royals

NL MVP: Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers 
NL Cy Young: Hunter Greene, Reds 
NL Rookie: JJ Wetherholt, Cardinals
NL Rookie Pitcher: Nolan McLean, Mets
NL Manager: Walt Weiss, Atlanta

RED SOX

After missing the playoffs each year from 2022-24, the Red Sox have started moving in the right direction. Things were touch-and-go at times last year, but in the end, a pitching staff led by two major acquisitions and a burgeoning core of young position players carried boston to a postseason berth. Garrett Crochet and Aroldis Chapman are back to lead the rotation and bullpen, respectively, while even more homegrown hitters will be looking to make their mark in 2026.

The starting rotation is in a terrific spot, featuring what could be the best one-two punch in the league; facing Crochet and Sonny Gray on back-to-back days will be exhausting for opposing lineups. Alongside that top-end talent, the Red Sox have significant depth, including several MLB-ready (or near-MLB-ready) starters stashed away in the minors. Their bullpen is similarly loaded for the late innings, though the bridge from their starters to their back-end arms could be treacherous.

The outfield was this team's biggest strength last season, and it should be a strong point again, replete with athletic defenders and powered by Roman Anthony's thunderous bat. The infield is less predictable, as the Red Sox will be counting on injury-prone players to stay healthy and promising youngsters to progress. Ultimately, if the offense is going to be meaningfully better than average, at least one player in the infield mix has to exceed expectations.

More broadly, how far the Red Sox will go in 2026 hinges on how far their numerous breakout candidates will take them. This is a good team as-is, but for the Red Sox to be great, they need some new contributors to achieve greatness; it's not going to be thrust upon them.

Starting Pitching: Crochet was seen as something of a risk when the Red Sox added him last winter, but he quickly proved to be one worth taking. After signing a six-year extension, Crochet firmly established himself as a top-three pitcher in the sport. The paradoxical Sonny Gray (even his name connotes both youth and age) has been on the injured list 12 times in a 13-year career. Yet, since his debut, no MLB pitcher has started more games. The 36-year-old should be an excellent deputy for the ace 10 years his junior. With Brayan Bello, Kutter Crawford, Patrick Sandoval and Johan Oviedo, the Red Sox have a surplus of starters with mid-rotation credentials. . . . In a best-case scenario in which all six starters are healthy, either Crawford or Oviedo could be optioned to Triple A or placed in the bullpen. In a more realistic scenario, the Red Sox won't have the luxury of stashing anyone in the minors or the arm barn, but they'll be glad they stockpiled depth. Boston has further depth in the form of Peyton Tolle and Connelly Early. . . . Both will probably start the year in the minors, but few teams have such exciting options so far down the Opening Day depth chart.

Relief Pitching: Who ever sold old closers can't learn new tricks? Aroidis Chapman issued walks at the lowest rate of his career in 2025, and he did so without sacrificing velocity. While he did throw more strikes, what really helped was a massive increase in swings outside the zone. . . . Garrett Whitlock returns as Chapman’s set-up man. Moving to the bullpen full time was just what the injury-prone right-hander needed, and leaning more on his changeup should help him reach even higher heights. Justin Slaten . . .  stuff looked just as good in his sophomore season, but the stats won't back that up: his strikeout rate plummeted, and he struggled to strand runners as a result. Aside from that trio, Alex Cora's circle of trust isn't wide. Greg Weissert has been effective in a low-leverage role, while Jordan Hicks will look to regain his triple-digit velocity now that his flirtation with starting is over.

Catching: Carlos Narváez was barely on anyone's radar before he earned an everyday role for the Red Sox in his rookie season. He'll be looking to prove his emergence was no fluke. A strong defender, his balanced (if unremarkable) skill set at the plate should allow him to be something like a league-average catcher. Connor Wong lost his starting job to Narváez in a disappointing 2025 campaign. He's yet to show any above-average skills at the big-league level . . .

Infield: New first baseman Willson Contreras has a swing that should generate lots of balls off the Green Monster, but he hits it too low (and runs too slow) to get the most out of his new home. There will be many long singles, and few added home runs. Trevor Story played the first full season of his Red Sox tenure last year, and while he hit 25 homers and stole 31 bases, his defense wasn't what it once was. . . .  Marcelo Mayer has the inside track on third base. The highly touted prospect looked overmatched as a rookie, flashing plus bat speed (74.1 mph) on his swings but whiffing on far too many. His glove should be fine in the long run, though he needs to hone his instincts to compensate for a mediocre arm. The presumptive second baseman is Kristian Campbell, another prospect who struggled in the majors. His power, theoretically his defining trait, was AWOL, and his defense was disastrous. Romy González and Ceddanne Rafaela can also cover the keystone, but the lefty-mashing González has no business facing righties, and Rafaela's elite outfield glove would be wasted on the dirt.

Outfield: Roman Anthony already looks like his team's best hitter, and he still has room to grow. His power numbers were low in his rookie season, considering how hard he hit the ball, and he'd do even more damage with a less passive approach. On top of everything he does at the plate, he's a talented fielder as well, and he'll join Ceddanne Rafaela, Jarren Duran and Wilyer Abreu to form the best defensive outfield rotation in the majors. Rafaela's superhuman jumps enable him to cover swaths of ground in center field. His bat is weak, but his speed helps him reach base just enough to wreak havoc once he's there. Duran and Abreu are strong fielders themselves, with above-average bats to accompany their gloves. . . . The Red Sox could free up more playing time by moving on from Masataka Yoshida. Like Anthony, Duran and Abreu, Yoshida bats left-handed; and he's the worst defender of the bunch. Trading or cutting him would free up DH reps for whichever of Anthony, Duran and Abreu isn't playing the field.

Designated Hitter: Yoshida is the de facto DH, but he hasn't proved he deserves those at-bats over teammates like Anthony, Abreu, Duran and González. His contact skills thrived in Japan, but MLB pitching has limited his power and tested his discipline.

Organization/Management: None of Boston's top baseball people came away from last year's Rafael Devers drama looking great, but a strong second-half showing earned . . . some goodwill from their fanbase. Craig Breslow has already made several splashes in his brief tenure as chief baseball officer. Now, he needs the on-field results to confirm he committed to the right players — and the right manager. Breslow didn't hire Alex Cora, but the executive quickly gave the skipper he inherited his full support, extending Cora through the 2027 campaign.

This season, Cora will be tasked with finding playing time for all his guys; helping top prospects (and recently graduated top prospects) reach their ceilings; and keeping a pitching staff full of aging and injury-prone arms healthy. As for Breslow, he's likely going to have to make some tough decisions about who to keep and who to part with. The Red Sox have possible logjams at several positions, and fans will certainly expect a more active trade deadline.

YANKEES

The Yankees bounced back from their worst season since the early 1990s with a trip to the World Series in 2024. They weren't quite as successful in 2025 . . . 

The pressure on the pinstripes will be unrelenting. Two of their top hitters, Judge and Stanton, are in their mid-30s while two more, Chisholm and Grisham, can be free agents after the season. None of Fried, Cole and Carlos Rodón is younger than 32 . . . The Blue Jays, Red Sox and Orioles all have younger cores, and Brian Cashman's payroll advantage isn't what it once was. . . .

Starting Pitching: Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón will miss the start of the season, while Clarke Schmidt will spend most (if not all) of it recovering from Tommy John surgery. That leaves a top four of Max Fried, Cam Schlittler, Luis Gil and Will Warren to open the year. . . . Warren, Schlittler and Gil are pitchers the Yankees want competing for back-end roles, not comprising the middle of their rotation. Gil was worryingly hittable . . . His velocity was down, and his strikeout rate paid the price. . . . Warren made a commendable 33 starts, but he wasn't dominant. . . . Cole is coming back from Tommy John surgery in March, and Rodón had loose bodies removed from his elbow in October. . . .

Relief Pitching: . . . Setting up for Bednar will be Camilo Doval and Fernando Cruz. Doval reintroduced his sinker last year, when his cutter couldn't cut the mustard . . . Neither the cutter nor the sinker stands out like they did when Doval could touch 102 mph . . . Veteran sinkerballer Tim Hill will be the go-to lefty, while Jake Bird and his breaking balls are a promising work in progress.

Catching: . . . There was a time when [Austin Wells] looked like a bat-first backstop, but . . . he hasn't proved he's anything more than average when he's standing at the plate instead of crouching behind it. . . . 

Outfield: It wouldn't be enough to call Judge the backbone of the Yankees’ offense; he's more like the whole skeletal system. . . . [He] has scored or driven in 23.1 percent of his team's runs over the last four seasons. . . . Trent Grisham look a chance on himself by accepting a qualifying offer . . . His career numbers say he's due for regression, as does his lopsided 34:9 home runs-to-doubles ratio. . . . Jasson Dominguez shows power potential . . . but the player he's been is a mediocre hitter with a lot to learn in left field. . . . 

Designated Hitter: Giancarlo Stanton is 36 and hasn't played a full, healthy season in eight years. . . .

Organization/Management: No longer are the Yankees the Evil Empire that wildly outspends the rest of the league. . . . No manager in Major League Baseball faces more criticism than Aaron Boone, but the Yankees' skipper has the backing of the front office. That has inevitably led to chirping that it's really Cashman calling the shots in the dugout. The simplest explanation is that Cashman hired a manager whose opinions align with his own.

Everyone Loves A Contest #32: 2026 Red Sox W-L Record

The 2026 Red Sox begin their regular season this Thursday in Cincinnati – so it's time for the annual Red Sox W-L Contest!

Guess the Red Sox's 2026 regular season W-L record and you will win a copy of The Baseball 100, Joe Posnanski's 2021 best-seller. (If you already own this book, you can choose a different book.)

Tiebreaker: Anthony Castrovince (mlb.com) ranks the Red Sox as the #4 best pitching staff in mlb. FanGraphs' projections have the Red Sox's starters leading both leagues in pitching WAR. So . . . what will the team's regular season ERA be?

Entries must be emailed to me before the first pitch on Thursday, March 26. Please include:

1. Red Sox 2026 regular season record
2. Red Sox team pitching ERA

Remember: Happiness is a warm puppy . . . and pictures of sad yankee fans.

WS 7: Dodgers 5, Blue Jays 4 (11)

UPDATED! . . . WORDS! . . . PICS! . . . TYPOS! (probably)

Dodgers   - 000 101 011 01 - 5 11  0
Blue Jays - 003 001 000 00 - 4 14  0

It was only the sixth World Series Game 7 to need extra innings. And it ended up being one of the most memorable Game 7s of all time. 

How the Los Angeles Dodgers, down by two runs with only eight outs remaining, rallied to tie and eventually win the game (and the World Series) in eleven innings, while also snuffing out three harrowing potential rallies in the final four innings, any one of which could have given the Toronto Blue Jays its first World Series championship in 32 years, was improbable, astonishing, and anxiety-producing and exhausting even for fans with no serious stake in the outcome.

After wishing dearly that all the hopes and dreams of Blue Jays fans would be crushed into dust before their disbelieving eyes, by the time the tenth inning began tonight, I no longer felt that way. I felt truly bad for Blue Jays fans, maybe even had some compassion. To witness the unprecedented ending of Game 6, when the ultimate victory seemed so close, they could almost surround it with their arms and never let it go, and then have to sleep and gear up for yet another game, that was bad enough. But the torture was only beginning. Forgetting the Dodgers pulverizing hopes and dreams. The Blue Jays ground up their own fan base, forcing them to witness events so brutal, they should qualify as extreme emotional abuse. More than a few of those fans may never recover. 

While the Dodgers enjoyed their on-field celebration, as their families ran onto the field to join them, Sportsnet showed many shots of stunned Blue Jays fans, who had watched Mookie Betts glove Alejandro Kirk's ground ball, step on second base, and throw to Freddie Freeman at first to end the game, and simply collapsed into their seats, staring blankly out at the field. I saw one young person with his mouth open in apparent astonishment 15 minutes after the game had ended.

One picture will stay with me for a long time. A young boy with red-orange hair was standing, his head face down on the dugout. He wasn't moving. His father stood beside him, his hand gently on his son's back. Had he been in that position since the final out, about five minutes earlier? The camera lingered; the boy never even twitched. Sportsnet finally cut away. How old was this kid? We never saw his face, even when the camera returned a few minutes later. Now he's being hugged by his father, who seems to be speaking softly, consolingly, to him. At some point, the boy had lifted his head and been enveloped by his father's arms, and I know – I know – he never opened his eyes and risked seeing the celebration on the field.

He could be ten years old. He's just old enough to care – to really care about the Blue Jays for the first time – and this is what fuckin happens. This is what happens to an innocent child when, for maybe the first time in his life, he allows his tender, untested emotions to be put on the line. He didn't decide to do that, of course; he didn't even realize it had happened. But at some point over the summer, an investment was made. He unknowingly gave himself over to something very powerful that he had absolutely no control over. He understood nothing of the depth of his investment or the range of possible consequences. How could he, at ten years old? I didn't fully understand it when it hit me like a battering ram at the age of 40. You can't understand it until after you go through it. You never see the emotional cost coming. The Blue Jays lost many games throughout the season – 75, by the time Game 7 began – but this one was nothing like any of the others. This is pain of a magnitude that will shock you. You probably told yourself they might lose tonight, but that's no protection. There is no barrier against any of the worst pains of life. There will be others, though none of them will have anything to do with baseball (not any more). . . . You'll never see any of them coming – you'll be utterly defenseless. Sorry, kid. 

[I found the second picture online (there are a few variations), but not the first. No identifications. After trying 15 or so different search strings, I took a picture of my computer screen. Rewatching it, I would have sworn the camera was more elevated and seemingly further away.]

Let's start in the eighth inning. Both teams had scored a run in the sixth, the Dodgers cutting Toronto's lead to 3-2 and the Blue Jays restablishing their two-run cushion in the bottom half. 

Shohei Ohtani had been a bust on the mound (2.1-5-3-2-3, 51). After throwing 43 pitches in two innings and leaving the bases loaded in the second, should he have come out for the third? A Dodgers fan messaging with my partner Laura throughout the World Series said, in real time, no fuckin way. Dave Roberts didn't listen. Springer single, Lukes sac bunt, Guerrero BBI, Bichette three-run homer (442 feet to dead center).

The Dodgers' ability to string together hits for a multi-run rally had vanished several games ago. And it was absent from this game, too. LA got a run when Smith doubled to start the third. Scherzer had given up a single to Ohtani to start the game but retired the next nine batters. I thought Smith's double had hit the wall in left-center above Varsho's glove, but the replay showed the ball landed inside his glove and caromed out. Freeman singled and Smith played it safe, stopping at third. Betts popped to right and Muncy walked, loading the bases. Teoscar H. lined a ball to center and Varsho made a sterling catch diving forward towards the infield. Smith tagged and scored. Edman then lined a shot down towards first, heading for the right field line, but Guerrero dove to his left, snaring the ball and sliding across the foul line chalk. It was one of several exceptional plays for Guerrero in this game.

LA scored another run on a sacrifice fly in the sixth. Betts walked and took second on Muncy's liner to right. Teoscar forced Muncy at second and Betts scored from third on Edman's fly to center. As mentioned, Toronto matched that run in the home half. Clement singled to left, setting a record with 29 hits this postseason (usual caveats about the numerous rounds of the postseason). He stole second without a throw and came home on Gimenez's double to right-center. 

T8: The Dodgers got one run closer on Max Muncy's one-out home run to right. The Blue Jays now led 4-3.

B8: That pesky fucker Clement doubled to left-center, his 30th hit of this postseason, off Sheehan. Snell entered the game (and was the third LA starter to pitch in this game, after Ohtani and Glasnow (both went 2.1 innings); there would be one more). After some mound grooming by the grounds crew, Snell got to work. Gimenez, after trying to bunt the runner to third, smoked a liner right at Muncy who was on the infield grass and made the catch. Springer fanned on three pitches and pinch-hitter Schneider also went down swinging.

T9: It's 11:10 in Toronto, the Blue Jays are three outs from a championship, Jeff Hoffman is on the mound, and Skydome is rockin'. Kike Hernandez lunges after a 1-2 slider out of the zone and strikes out. Those splitters and sliders must be extraordinarily enticing because none of the Dodgers hitters have been able to stop chasing them all night. Two outs to go. Miguel Rojas, the man who recorded the final out of Game 6 at second base, battles Hoffman: swing/miss, ball, ball, foul, foul, ball – and then a drive to left that carries over the fence (387 feet) for a game-tying home run! Ohtani has been hacking at everything all night and he drives the first pitch to the edge of the track in left for the second out. Smith looks at two strikes, then watched four balls sail outside – Wait! Plate umpire Jordan Baker blows the final call, ringing Smith up and ending the inning. One of many shitty calls by Baker, whose incompetence is altering the course of the ninth inning of Game 7, for fuck's sake. Manfred allows this to happen year after year after year after year . . . but, hey, teams will be allowed to challenge two pitch calls per game next year. TWO! Thank you, oh benevolent commissioner.

B9: Snell returns to the mound and goes to 3-0 on Guerrero. Vlad swings at the next one and drives it to deep center, where Edman catches it just in front of the warning track. (I attended many games at Skydome and Jays fans are notorious for truping themselves on anything hit in the air. A pop-up to short right is greeted off the bat with the same excitement as a 450-foot blast. The fans never learned to either wait a second before reacting or to simply watch the outfielder. They got fooled soooooo many times in Games 6 and 7.) Bichette lines a single to left and after hobbling to first, leaves for pinch-runner Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Umpire Baker blows a 2-1 call to Barger, putting the count at 2-2 instead of 3-1. Barger ends up walking on nine pitches. And here comes last night's starter: Yamamoto! After throwing 96 pitches to 23 batters in Game 6, what will he have here? How long will he go? No one has even an inkling of a clue. 

Yamamoto's second pitch to Kirk comes inside and drills Kirk on the right arm. The Dodgers challenge the call, but the replay makes the HBP obvious. (The benches and bullpens emptied in the fourth when Gimenez was hit with the third pitch thrown up around his melon by Wrobleski. Some players were pissed off at opposing players, but it appeared to have nothing to do with the HBP. Anyway, that incident seems like it was many hours ago, not five innings.) With only one out, Toronto has the bases loaded and the WS-winning run at third. The Dodgers pull Edman and put Andy Pages in center. All of the outfielders are extremely shallow and the infielders are on the grass of the infield. There was a mound meeting, but the infielders all know the only play on a ground ball is a force at the plate. Varsho grounds a 1-2 splitter to second baseman Rojas. The ball is hit fairly hard and Rojas staggers back a step, but has time to set himself and fire the ball to Smith at the plate, retiring IKF for the second out. Clement is next. 

Yamamoto throws a low curveball and Clement clocks it to deep left-center. The fans are certain this game is over. The outfielders were not playing at a normal depth, so Kike is sprinting from left and Pages is coming hard from center. For a brief moment, it looks like Kike might try to catch the ball over his shoulder on the warning track (which would be an eye-popping play). Instead, Pages (listed at 6-1) leaps and appears to slightly hip-check Kike (5-11) out of the way before making a great catch and crashing into the wall. Kike is laying in the dirt at the base of the wall. Pages knows it's the third out, so he checks on his teammate. I imagine Kike asking, "Did you catch it?", knowing that if the answer is "No", then he plans to stay here for a while. But the answer is "Yes!", and we see Kike turn his face to the field, he's smiling, and he starts getting to his feet. Skydome is as silent as a tomb. The tenth inning cometh.

T10: I've already deduced, from my experience watching the "one-game doubleheader" in Los Angeles (so is this really Game 8?) that I'll be hoping the Dodgers score in the top half and if they don't, I'll be terrified at the possibility the Jays might win it all in the bottom. What I really want, of course, is lots of scoreless innings (no trick-or-treaters tonight and it's not even 8:30 PT), when both managers will be forced to finally call in their actual relievers to get outs. Maybe it will get so late Mookie will pitch. (If any player could be considered as a likely candidate to play all nine positions in a game, it's Mookie.)

I recall some games that have a furious amount of activity in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings, but once they go into extras, both teams relax and the game's rhythm slows to a calm cruising speed for a few innings before everyone re-engages with the game. Maybe this game will be like that. (It won't, of course.) 

The Blue Jays bring in Hoffman to face the middle of the Dodgers order. Freeman flies to left. Betts walks on five pitches. Muncy singles up the middle on a 2-2 fastball. Teoscar sees seven pitches (bcsbfbb) and walks. Bases loaded. This threat ends in a much calmer fashion than the Jays' in the previous half-inning. Pages grounds into a 6-2 force. Kike grounds the ball to Guerrero's right. He dives to grab it, then spins arounds quickly and tosses the ball to Sir Anthony, who does a little stutter-step with his feet at the bag. An out call is made, and the Dodgers challenge it. I found it impossible to tell if the call was right as the play happened. The first two replays leave me in the dark. The call is upheld and I finally see Dominguez first put his right foot forward to the bag, but it did not quite reach, so he quickly pushed his left foot forward to get the out.

B10: Yamamoto has a clean inning. It's an absolute rarity in this game. It's the only frame in which the Blue Jays are retired in order; the Dodgers had only two: the second and third against Scherzer. Out of what will be 22 half innings, in 19 of them someone bats with someone on base. Over 13 pitches, Gimenez grounds to second, Springer strikes out, and Straw flies to right.

T11: Game 4 starter Shane Bieber is Toronto's seventh pitcher of the game, ready to face LA's 9-1-2 hitters. Rojas grounds to third. Clement charges onto the grass and makes a superb run-and-gun for the first out. Ohtani hacks at the first pitch (again!) and hits a routine ground ball to IKF at second for Out #2. Two outs on three pitches; the Jays fans like it. (Ohtani saw only 15 pitches in his six plate appearances: 4-1-3-5-1-1. Interestingly, the 4 and 3 were singles, the 5 a walk. The three 1s were outs.) Weird Factoid: The last six WS champs have each had a Will Smith on the roster. Not the same Will Smith, of course. There are two: a pitcher and a catcher.) Here, the catcher clubs a 2-0 slider that's down the heart of the plate over the wall in left for the first extra-inning home run in a winner-take-all World Series game. The Dodgers have hit three solo home runs in the last four innings and have their first lead of the night, 5-4. Freeman grounds out to shortstop.

B11: When the Blue Jays were two outs away from a World Series trophy back in the ninth, their win probability was 91.3%. As they prepared to bat in the bottom of the eleventh, that probability was down to 19.4%, producing in the Toronto fans the queasing feeling of a rollercoaster or being on an airplane that suddenly starts plummeting to the ground. The Dodgers made a couple of substitutions, bringing in better gloves at second and in center. Yamamoto began his third inning on the mound. Guerrero led off,  and although his bat had cooled off a bit, I could certainly imagine him cranking one here. Vlad took two balls down and away and two strikes at the belt. Yamamoto missed with a splitter inside (full count,) and then went back to the same spot with a fastball. Guerrero lined it into the left field corner for a double. Kiner-Falefa dropped a bunt on the third base side. It did not roll far. Yamamoto made a nice play, getting to the ball and then firing a seed to first to nip the runner. The Jays were back in what was becoming a common situation: an important runner at third and only one out. Yamamoto proceeded to walk Barger on four pitches, with only the first one being close (just off the outside black). Now a double play was a possibility. It was now up to the chubby, fire-hydrant-shaped Kirk, who stands at 5-8 and was 8-for-25 in the World Series, .320. The always placid Yamamoto threw three pitches well within the zone: a cutter (fouled off), a curveball (called strike), and a splitter (a broken-bat grounder to shortstop). Betts moved to his left to get the ball, chose to keep on running to the bag rather than flip the ball to Hyeseong Kim, stepped on the bag and fired to first. Freeman recorded the out well before Kirk crossed the bag – and for the Blue Jays, the end comes at 12:18 a.m. in Toronto.

The Dodgers are the 2025 World Series Champions, and their journey to the trophy over the last few days was the most improbable and treacherous path possible. They are the first major American sports team to repeat as champions in a quarter-century (the 2000 MFY). It's the longest span without a repeat champ in MLB, NBA, NHL, and NFL history.

The Blue Jays gave themselves so many chances to score runs, so many baserunners (14 hits, 5 walks, and 2 HBP in this game alone), put themselves in numerous great positions to score, yet they failed over and over and over, to a ridiculous degree. 

In Game 7, they left 14 men on base and managed only three hits in 17 (!) chances with runners on second and/or third. In the final four innings, the Jays had five chances to bring home a runner from second and four chances with a runner on third – and they failed all nine times.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto – the man who started Game 6 and finished Game 7 – was named the Most Valuable Player of the series.

Yamamoto:

. . . is the ninth pitcher to pitch in a postseason game the day after pitching at least six innings. 

Art Nehf           WS 1924 G6-7  0.2 IP,  4 BF
Grover Alexander   WS 1926 G6-7  2.1 IP,  7 BF (Save)
Lefty Grove        WS 1930 G4-5  2.0 IP,  8 BF (Win)
Schoolboy Rowe     WS 1934 G6-7  0.1 IP,  3 BF
Max Lanier         WS 1943 G4-5  1.1 IP,  7 BF
Vic Raschi         WS 1952 G6-7  0.1 IP,  4 BF (Hold)
Orel Hershiser   NLCS 1988 G3-4  0.1 IP,  1 BF (Save)
Randy Johnson      WS 2001 G6-7  1.1 IP,  4 BF (Win)
Yoshinobu Yamamoto WS 2025 G6-7  2.2 IP, 10 BF (Win)

. . . faced the most batters and recorded the most outs of that select group.

. . . is the first pitcher to win three games in a single WS since Randy Johnson did it against the Yankees in 2001.

. . . is the first pitcher in major league history to record three wins on the road in a World Series.

. . . is the fourth pitcher to record a win in both Games 6 and 7 of a World Series (Ray Kremer 1925, Harry Brecheen 1946, Randy Johnson 2001), but he is the first to get both of those wins on the road.

WS 6: Dodgers 3, Blue Jays 1

G1: Blue Jays 11, Dodgers 4
G2: Dodgers 5, Blue Jays 1
G3: Dodgers 6, Blue Jays 5 (18)
G4: Blue Jays 6, Dodgers 2
G5: Blue Jays 6, Dodgers 1
G6: Dodgers 3, Blue Jays 1
G7: ?

Dodgers   - 003 000 000 - 3  4  0
Blue Jays - 001 000 000 - 1  8  0

The last World Series to that needed a Game 7 was in 2019, when the Nationals beat the Astros 6-2. The home team lost every game in that series. Since then, the World Series has been completed in six, six, six, five, and five games.

Max Scherzer was the starting pitcher for the Nationals in that Game 7 on October 30, 2019. He will be the starting pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays tonight in Game 7 of the 2025 World Series.

The Dodgers won Game 6, at Skydome in Toronto, by a 3-1 score. The bottom of the ninth inning was both remarkable and bonkers. Roki Sasaki was beginning his second inning of work. The Dodgers had just left the bases loaded in the top half of the eighth, missing a chance to pad their lead and remove a lot of drama from the next two innings. Sasaki had struggled with his control and needed 25 pitches to get through the eighth inning, giving up a leadoff single and a one-out walk (a seven-pitch battle against Guerrero) before stranding both runners.

The importance of the bottom of the ninth was emphasized by the fact that Sportsnet did not go to commercial, using the mid-inning time to set the stage for the Blue Jays' final chance to tie the game.

Sasaki got two strikes on Alejandro Kirk before coming up and in and hitting on the left ar, just above the wrist. Myler Straw pinch-ran. Sasaki alternated between fastballs in the zone and splitters away to Addison Barger, establishing a 2-2 count before lifting a fly ball to deep left-center. The ball landed at the base of the wall and stuck under the padding. 

Dodgers centerfielder Justin Dean, who had taken over at the start of the inning, immediately indicated the situation to the umpires, who agreed the ball had been stuck. The hit was ruled the equivalent of a ground-rule double. Straw would have scored easily from first, but was sent back to third. The Blue Jays challenged the call – and it certainly looked like Dean could have grabbed the ball and thrown it in. It had not disappeared under the wall. Dean made a split-second decision to argue the ball was stuck, knowing a runner on first would be awarded only two bases. The original call stood, and Toronto's second run was taken off the board.

Even after this bit of bad luck, the Blue Jays had runners at second and third, with the potential World Series-winning run in the batters box. A single could tie the game. I cannot imagine many (if any) of the excited Blue Jays fans in attendance believe the team would not at least tie the game, if not outright grab the championship within minutes.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts brought in Game 3 starter Tyler Glasnow, who began warming up as the inning began. Glasnow faced 22 batters on Monday and now it was Friday and he had to get out of this extremely jam.

Ernie Clement had singled and doubled in his last two at-bats and was hitting .360 (9-for-25) in the series. Andrés Giménez would next and then it was back to the top of the order with George Springer (who was 2-for-4 and had driven in Toronto's third-inning run). Glasnow's first pitch, a sinker, ran up and in on Clement's hands and he popped up to first. One pitch, one very big out.

Giménez looked at a very high curveball for ball one. Glasnow threw the left-handed batter an outside sinker, which Giménez hit towards shallow left field. It seemed like it could be a single, but the ball was not going to drop in. But Kiké Hernández had it played perfectly. He was running in and, in one fluid motion, caught the ball and threw to second base. Barger desperately dove back to the bag, but he had been just a little too far away.

The throw came in on one hop. Second baseman Miguel Rojas had his left foot on the base and he recoiled a bit to glove the ball. Barger's hand was only a few inches from the bag. This play was not close. His momentum knocked Rojas on his ass; by the time the infielder had rolled over and was on his knees, he was already yelling and celebrating. The out call was made – a game-ending double play – a Game 7-creating double play – and the Dodgers had won. 

Mookie Betts took flight. He suddenly appeared in the camera shot, sailing through the air towards Hernández, who had kept running to the infield, and now happily caught his shortstop. (Betts, mired in a 3-for-24 WS slump, drove in the Dodgers' second and third runs with a two-out single in the third inning. They were his first RBI since NLCS 3.) Several "Fuck Yeahh!!!s could be heard on the Fox broadcast, thanks to those microphones in the bases.

It was the first time a postseason game ended with a 7-4 double play.

ALSO: It was not the first time in this postseason that Hernández had made this exact (double) play. In the third inning of NLCS 3 against the Brewers, Hernández came sprinting in on a similarly-hit ball, made the catch, and fired a perfect, one-hop throw to first, doubling off Blake Perkins of the Brewers. The athleticism of that play – to make a perfect throw from that far away, while running hard – was (and is) absolutely astonishing.

AJ Cassavell (mlb.com) wrote a great recap and has some analysis along with Hernández's version of events:

This was an all-timer of a finish, largely made possible by Hernández. Let's start with the positioning, which was perfect:

• Hernández played Giménez 272 feet deep – a whopping 26 feet shallower than the average for left fielders against left-handed hitters this season.

• To some extent, that's because of Giménez, who isn't much of a power threat. On average, left fielders started at just 285 feet against Hernández, ranking 151st of 158 lefties (min. 200 PA from the left side).

• Hernández himself clearly likes to play shallow, also averaging 285 feet against lefties (ranking 107th of 119 left fielders).

• Still, Hernández crept even further than all of those averages. That's mostly just the way he's been playing Giménez all week. Hernández had averaged a starting point of 273 feet against Giménez (which was a full 24 feet closer than the Dodgers' other left fielders in this series).

"With Glasnow's stuff, I was anticipating him hitting the ball to the left side of the field," Hernández said. "I was playing shallow, tying run on second base. I just wanted to make sure that if he got a hit through the six-hole, I was going to be shallow enough to keep the tying run that was at second base, keep him at third."

Hernández's positioning was perfect. So was the play itself. Hernández still needed to cover some serious ground – 52 feet in 3.4 seconds to be exact. His read off the bat was exquisite. Hernández got the best jump imaginable to make a catch Barger never saw coming.

"I was pretty surprised he got to it," Barger said. "Off the bat, I thought it was going to get over the shortstop's head. I didn't think it was going to travel that far. It was kind of a bad read. Obviously, I was too far off the base. … I was being too aggressive."

Per Statcast, Hernández's jump was 7.3 feet better than the league average (with jump defined as feet covered in the correct direction within the first 3 feet after the ball was hit). If Hernández's jump is any worse, it's possible he still makes the catch. But he almost certainly isn't able to double up Barger.

Which brings us to the final part of the play – one that shouldn't be overlooked. Hernández did his best to get the ball out of his glove as quickly as possible. The throw was accurate – but it came with an in-between hop.

"I was coming in full speed, so I didn't want to really throw hard, because I was probably going to throw it over his head," said Hernández.

Added Rojas: "When he threw the ball to second, I said, 'No way this ball is getting past me.'"

Indeed, Rojas put the finishing touches on the play – and Game 6. He planted his left foot on the bag, then let the ball travel past him, which gave him additional time to read the hop. He squeezed the ball in his glove, a split second before Barger's left hand hit the bag.

The Dodgers poured out of the dugout as Rogers Centre settled into a hushed silence.

And so tonight's Game 7 -- with Max Scherzer and Shohei Ohtani as starting pitchers -- will determine who gets to call themselves the champions of baseball for 2025.

Toronto's Blue Jays Game 6 starter Kevin Gausman began the evening with an absolutely unhittable splitter than the Dodger batters could not stop chasing. Gausman struck out the side in the first, two more in the second, and three in the third. He retired the Dodgers in order in five of his six innings.

Gausman was the first pitcher to strike out the side in order in a World Series first inning since Blake Snell (2020 WS 6 for Rays against Dodgers). It was the 12th occurence in a World Series game. It was also the first time Gausman struck out the side in the first inning of any game since July 22, 2023.

Gausman's eight strikeouts in the first three innings tied the record for a World Series game. Cleveland's Corey Kluber fanned eight Cubs in the first three innings of 2016 WS 1.

The lone inning in which Gausman (6-3-3-2-8, 93) gave up all of his hits, all of his walks, and all of his runs, was the third, and it ended up being the difference in the game. And all that occurred with Gausman receiving significant help from the plate umpire.

Adam Hamari was calling balls and strikes and he rung up Kiké Hernández for Gausman's first out on a 2-2 slider that was too far outside. Tommy Edman lined a first-pitch double into the right field corner. Then Hamari called a strike 3 on Rojas on a 2-2 fastball that was below the bottom of the strike zone. That was the second out. Ohtani was intentionally walked. Will Smith drove a 1-0 pitch into the left field corner for a run-scoring double. Freddie Freeman fouled off a pitch and then took four balls out of the zone, two of them low and two in the dirt. Bases loaded. Betts, on 1-2, lashed a single to left, scoring two more runs. 

The Jays got one of them back in the bottom half, against Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Barger doubled down the left field line; the ball took two hops before caroming off the jut of the box seats into short left. Clement striuck out and Giménez grounded to second, moving Barger to third. George Springer attacked a 3-0 cutter, singling to right-center and bringing home Barger.

The Blue Jays had men on base all night long, but it usually happened with one or two outs. 

1st: Lukes one-out single, Guerrero GIDP 5-4-3.
2nd: Jays retired in order.
3rd: Barger leadoff double, Springer two-out single.
4th: Bichette single with one out, Varsho GIDP.
5th: Clement two-out single, Giménez F8 (deep left-center).
6th: Guerrero two-out double, Bichette walk, Varsho struck out.
7th: Clement two-out double, Giménez struck out.
8th: Springer leadoff single, Guerrero one-out walk, Bichette PF6 (long run by Betts), Varsho 4-3.
9th: Kirk leadoff HBP, Barger double, Clement pop up to first, Giménez hits into 7-4 DP.

Yamamoto (6-5-1-1-6, 96) pitched only six innings – and everyone in Toronto was glad to see him go. Roberts went with Justin Wrobleski to face the bottom of the Blue Jays' order in the seventh. It paid off. Kirk struck out and Barger grounded to second (a high chopper on which Rojas was forced to field barehanded and make a quick throw). Clement doubled to left-center and Giménez struck out.

Sasaki worked for his outs in the eighth, stranding two runners. Then came the ninth. . . . And now comes Game 7.

Scherzer will be the oldest starting pitcher in a winner-take-all World Series game. It will also be his record-setting ninth winner-take-all game that he has pitched in, in any role.

In best-of-seven series with the current 2-3-2 format, teams that have won Game 6 in order to force a game 7 have won that series 35 of 56 times (62.5%)

When the Game 6 winner has forced a Game 7 on the road, that road team has won the series 14 of 22 times (63.6%)

Max Scherzer will be the fourth pitcher to start multiple World Series winner-take-all Game 7s, joining Bob Gibson (3), Lew Burdette (2), and Don Larsen (2).

If Louis Varland pitches in Game 7, he will set a new record of 15 appearances in a single postseason.

Most total bases in a single postseason
2020 Randy Arozarena: 64 (20 games)
2025 Vladimir Guerrero Jr.: 56 (18 games, so far)

Most hits in a single postseason

2020 Randy Arozarena: 29

2025 Vladimir Guerrero Jr.: 28

2025 Ernie Clement: 26

2014 Pablo Sandoval: 26

WIll Blue Jays Win First Title In 32 Years Or Will Dodgers Rebound And Force Game 7?

The 2025 Major League Baseball season began in Tokyo, Japan, and it will end in Toronto, Canada. This is the first time a season has both begun and ended outside the United States. The Dodgers won way back on March 18 and they hope to win both tonight and Saturday night, and repear as World Series champions.

Los Angeles trails in the series 2-3 and are calling upon Yoshinobu Yamamoto to stifle the Toronto Blue Jays' bats, while simultaneously hoping to break out of their recent hitting slump. The Dodgers are hitting .201/.296/.354 in the World Series. (In Games 4 and 5, LA is 10-for-61 (.164), with eight singles .)

The noodle bats abound: Mookie Betts (.130, 3-for-23), Max Muncy (.150, 3-for-20), Kike Hernandez (.211, 4-for-19, zero walks, 10K), Tommy Edman (.143, 3-for-21). . . . The only Dodgers batting over .238 are Teoscar Hernandez (.318, 7-for-22), Shohei Ohtani (.316, 6-for-19, 2 doubles, 3 home runs, 7 walks) and Freddie Freeman (.250, 5-for-20, 4 walks (.400 OBP)).

Teams in the Blue Jays' position (breaking a 2-2 tie by winning Game 5 on the road in a 2-3-2 series) have won the series 74.1% of the time.

The 2025 Dodgers have lost their last two games and need to win their next two games. How often did the pattern LLWW appear in their schedule? Twelve times:

April 7-11, 12-15, 23-27
May 18-21, 24-27
June 6-9
July 9-13, 26-29
August 12-16, 22-25
September 15-18, 21-25

Yamamoto has been superb in his brief postseason career (two seasons). In six of his eight postseason starts, he's allowed two earned runs or fewer. He comes into Game 6 having thrown two consecutive complete starts, against the Brewers in NLCS 2 (9-3-1-1-7, 111) and against the Blue Jays in Game 2 (9-4-1-0-8, 105) of this series. 18 innings, 7 hits, 1 walk, 2 runs, and 15 strikeouts. (I'll mention his other WS start, in Game 2 last October, because he shut down the Yankees (6.1-1-1-2-4, 86).

Also: In the last 55 years, only three pitchers have thrown three complete games in a postseason: Luis Tiant (1975), Orel Hershiser (1988), Curt Schilling (2001).

Toronto will send Kevin Gausman to the hill, who was on the losing side in Game 2 (6.2-4-3-0-6, 82). The Blue Jays have a ton of momentum, winning Games 4 and 5 in Los Angeles after losing in 18 innings in Game 3. George Springer is back atop the lineup. (This may be limited to Sportsnet, but I have seen a pro-Jays commercial that puts Springer's seventh-inning, lead-grabbing, three-run homer against Mariners in ALCS 7 on par with Joe Carter's World Series-winning blast against the Phillies in 1993. Nonsense. 

2025: The Mariners held a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the seventh of Game 7. The Blue Jays' win probability was at 22%. The inning unfolded against Bryan Woo thusly: Addison Barger walk (29%). Isiah Kiner-Falefa single (39%). Andres Gimenez sacrifice bunt (37%). Eduard Bazardo replaced Woo. Springer homered to left (77%), giving Toronto a 4-3 lead (win probability increased by 40%). The Mariners retained a win probability of 26% as they began the top of the eighth. They trailed by one run and would come to bat for at least two more innings. At the start of the ninth inning, their win probability had dropped to 17%. I don't know how many 2025 games in which the winning team began the ninth inning with a 17% win probability, but I'll bet it's over 30. Unfortunately, the Mariners went down in order in both innings.

1993: Carter's shot off Mitch Williams came in Game 6 (which I watched in the Brooklyn apartment of a hardcore Phillies fan; I don't know where Carter was when the TV was shut off, but he hadn't touched home plate, that's for sure), not a decisive Game 7. Even if the Blue Jays had lost that game 6-5, there would have been another game the following night. Toronto led 5-1 after six innings (94%), thanks to a strong performance from Dave Stewart (6-2-1-3-2, 99). But Stewart also faced three batters in the seventh and the Phillies went walk, single, home run (Dykstra, 69%). Another run in that inning tied the game 5-5, dropping the Blue Jays' likelihood of a win at 37%. And it kept dropping: 26% (end of 7), 32% (mid 8), 17% (end of 8), 21% (mid 9). With Mitch Williams on the mound: Henderson walk (35%), White F7 (22%), Molitor single (34%), Carter home run (100%). The play added 66% to Toronto's win probability. 

And it fuckin won the World Series. Which is a much bigger deal than winning a pennant and getting the chance to play in the World Series. Springer's home run was a hell of a moment for Blue Jays fans, especially for those fans born after Carter's heroics, which thus have been relegated to "history".

Does David Ortiz's game- and series-winning home run against the Angels on par with either of his game-winning hits against the Yankees in the ALCS? No. Of course not.

Out of curiosity, I looked at those three games. 

ALDS 3: Boston begins B10 at 66%. Rodriguez pitching, Damon single (73%), Bellhorn bunt-FC (65%), Reese pinch-run, Manny K (57%), Washburn pitching, Ortiz home run (100%). Added 43%.

ALCS 4: Boston begins B12 at 66%. Quantrill pitching, Manny single (73%), Ortiz home run (100%). Added 27%. (Extra: Roberts' steal in the ninth added 25%!)

ALCS 5: Boston began B14 at 66% (this is standard in the middle of an extra inning; WP is at 50% after each full extra inning). Loaiza pitching, Bellhorn K (59%), Damon walk (65%), Cabrera K (57%), Manny walk (62%), Ortiz single (100%). Added 38%.

In this case, the order of importance of those hits (ALCS 4, ALCS 5, ALDS 3) is in reverse proportion to their value, according to win probability.

Trey Yesavage has left his mark on this postseason:

Yesavage has eight major league starts on his resume. Five of those came in this postseason. He is the first major league pitcher to make even three postseason starts within his first eight games and the first pitcher in history to start multiple World Series games within his first eight career games.

Yesavage's 12 strikeouts in Game 5 set a World Series record for rookie pitchers, surpassing Don Newcombe (11 Yankees, 1949 WS 1). Yesavage issued no walks, becoming the first pitcher to strike out 12+ and not walk anyone in a World Series game.

Yesavage struck out each batter in the Dodgers' starting lineup at least once. He's the third starting pitcher in World Series history to do that, joining Bob Gibson (1968 WS 1, Tigers) and Randy Johnson (2001 WS 2, Yankees).

Yesavage got the Dodgers to swing-and-miss 23 times, the most by a pitcher in a World Series game since pitch tracking began eighteen years ago (2008).

Yesavage has two of the seven postseason games in which a rookie struck out 11+ batters. (He struck out 11 Yankees in ALDS 2.) He's the first rookie in postseason history with multiple 10+-strikeout games and the first to do so before his 23rd birthday.

Yesavage became the second pitcher in World Series history with 10+ strikeouts in the first five innings. He joined Sandy Koufax (1963 WS 1, Yankees).

Yesavage is the second pitcher to have a 10+K postseason game in his career, joining Gerrit Cole. Yesavage is the first to it twice in the same postseason (i.e., his "career").

Yesavage made only three MLB starts before this postseason and did not record 10 strikeouts in any of them. He's is the first pitcher in history to have his first two career 10+ strikeout games in the postseason. He has more strikeouts in the World Series (17) than in the regular season (16).

Yesavage became the youngest pitcher with 10+ strikeouts in a World Series game (22 years and 93 days). Smoky Joe Wood of the Red Sox was 22-349 when he struck out 11 Giants in 1912 WS 1. 

Yesavage is the third-youngest pitcher with 10+ strikeouts in any postseason game. The previous two: John Candelaria (21-335, 1975 NLCS 3, 14 K vs Reds) and himself (!) (22-69, 2025 ALDS 2, 11 K vs Yankees).

Happy Halloween!

WS 4: Blue Jays 6, Dodgers 2WS 5: Blue Jays 6, Dodgers 1

Blue Jays - 002 000 400 - 6 11  0
Dodgers   - 010 000 001 - 2  6  0

Blue Jays - 200 100 210 - 6  9  0
Dodgers   - 001 000 000 - 1  4  0

Now that the Dodgers' starting pitching has come back down to Earth and the Blue Jays are proving that every spot in their lineup can contribute at any time, I'm finding it difficult to imagine a scenario in which the American League champions lose two consecutive games in Toronto.

The Blue Jays seem to have everything lined up to win their first World Series title in more than 30 years. The Toronto franchise is playing in its third World Series -- and it leads the Dodgers 3 games to 2 games. In the previous two, the Blue Jays beat Atlanta 4-2 in 1992 and the Phillies 4-2 in 1993. If they win on Friday night at Skydome, they will beat the Dodgers 4-2.

After the exhausting brilliance of Monday's 609-pitch marathon, the greatest game I have seen in a very long time (perhaps since the other 18-inning World Series game back in 2018), the next two games were standard contests between two good teams. Similar scoring in the first three innings, a lead-expanding rally by Toronto in the seventh, and a general feeling that the Dodgers have lost . . . something . . . cohesiveness, perhaps. They have not presented themselves as a unified team at the plate for the last two nights, that's for sure. Los Angeles is 10-for-61 (.164) in Games 4 and 5. Of those 10 hits, eight are singles. They have gone 0-for-6 with RATS. Their three runs were driven by a solo home run, a fly out, and a ground out. In Game 5, the Dodgers has as many hits as wild pitches (four).

In Game 4 on Tuesday, the Blue Jays faced the possibility of trailing 1-3 in the series and knowing they might be forced to watch the Dodgers repeat as World Series champs with 50,000 of their fans. Shane Bieber (5.1-4-1-3-3, 81) allowed a run in the second inning due to a momentary loss of control. A four-pitch walk to Max Muncy, a single to right (on a 2-1 pitch) by Tommy Edman, and a sac fly to from  Kiké Hernández gave the Dodgers a 1-0 lead. The Blue Jays answered immediately against Shohei Ohtani in the third. With one out, Nathan Lukes, atop the lineup with George Springer out with "right side discomfort", singled and Vladimir Guerrero hammered a sweeper over the wall in left-center for a lead-grabbing two-run homer.

Bieber allowed only two baserunners over the next three innings --  a single in the third and a walk in the fourth -- and both of those came with two outs. He pitched a clean fifth but left a bit of a mess in the sixth. Freddie Freeman singled off Guerrero's glove at first for a single. Will Smith lined out to center and Teoscar Hernández singled to center. Mason Fluharty (who allowed a .157 average to lefty batters this season) came in to face LH-hitting Max Muncy -- who lifted the first pitch to left center for the  second out. Edman, a switch-hitter, opted to bat righty, and struck out on three pitches.

Excited by that escape, perhaps, Toronto batted around in the seventh against three Los Angeles pitchers. Ohtani threw only three pitches before being lifted, but allowed a single to Daulton Varsho and a double off the left-center wall to Ernie Clement. Anthony Banda took over. It was during Andrés  Giménez's eight-pitch at-bat that my Telus connection to Sportsnet dropped out and sputtered off and on until things cleared up in the bottom of the eighth.

Gimenez singled to left to give the Jays a 3-1 lead. Isiah Kiner-Falefa lined out to third and first base umpire Adam Hamari said Muncy's throw to first doubled off Giménez. The Dodgers challenged the call at first and Hamari's call was overturned. Ty France batted for Lukes and brought Clement in with a groundout to second. Guerrero was walked intentionally and Blake Treinen came in to pitch with Toronto up 4-1 and runners at first and second with two outs. As Ohtani had done to begin the inning, Treinen allowed two hits in a span of three pitches. Bo Bichette singled to deep left to score Giménez and Addison Barger grounded a single past shortstop to bring Vlad home. Alejandro Kirk lined out to right to end the inning. Blue Jays 6-1.

Toronto continued getting baserunners, stranding men at second and third in the eighth and first and second in the ninth. Los Angeles went in order in the seventh and had a leadoff single in the eighth wiped out on a double play. Teoscar H. walked to begin the ninth, went to third on Muncy's double to right, and scored on Edman's grounder to third. Louis Varland struck out Kiké H. and then intentionally balked Muncy to third to stop him from giving info about the catcher's positioning to the batters. The distraction having been dealt with, Varland retired Alex Call on a line drive to left.

The main story of Game 5 was Trey Yesavage (7-3-1-0-12, 104), who was as dominating and as impressive as he was against the Yankees in Game 2 of the ALDS, back on October 5. In that game, he pitched 5.1 no-hit innings and recorded 11 of his 16 outs "by way of the K". Facing the Dodgers in hostile territory, Yesavage became the youngest pitcher (22 years, 93 days) to have 10+ K in a World Series game. (Of his eight major league starts in 2025, five came in this postseason.)

The other story was David Schneider and Vladimir Guerrero beginning the game with two solo home runs, which had never before occurred in a World Series game. Schneider belted Blake Snell's first pitch to left, estimated at 373 feet. Guerrero looked at a called strike before also clearing the left field wall, at an estimated 394 feet. Three pitches and Toronto led 2-0. The Blue Jays also challenged a double play call and had it overturned (Jordan Baker blew the call at first this time), but could not take full advantage.

Yesavage retired the first seven batters (including five in a row) before Kiké H. got ahold of a fastball at 93 and homered to left (407 feet). It was barely a speed bump for Yesavage, who fanned three of the next four batters, and gave up only two infield singles and an HBP over the next 4.2 innings.

Varsho tripled to right to begin the top of the fourth. Teoscar H. did not have a chance to catch sinking liner and should have played it safe. Instead, he went into a dive and the ball skipped by him. Varsho tagged and scored on Clement's line out to center. Snell issued a walk, but struck out the next two. He also began the fifth with a walk, but a double play took care of the runner.

LA manager Dave Roberts trule trusts only a few bullpen arms, so he sent Snell out for the seventh at 93 pitches. Barger singled to the opposite (left) field, the ball sailing through the spot normally occupied by Muncy, who was playing the batter to pull. IKF attempted to bunt twice before Snell wild-pitched the runner to second. IFK grounded out to shortstop. Giménez worked an eight-pitch walk. After a mound conference, Schneider stepped in. Snell (6.2-6-5-4-7, 116) got two called strikes, then threw three balls (one of which was another wild pitch), before a swinging strikeout. Snell threw the most pitches in the seventh inning: 15-11-19 21-12-14 23 = 116.

Edgardo Henriquez, who was impresive with 101/102 heat in Game 3, had nothing tonight. Facing Guerrero, he went to a full count before walking him with a wild pitch that scored Barger and moved Giménez to second (where he would have been anyway because of the aforementioned walk). After a called strike to Bichette, Henriquez threw three balls (inside, away, very high) before the Son of Dante singled to right, bringing in Toronto's fifth run. Henriquez then issued a four-pitch walk before Banda got the final out (the first ball was actually a strike but the next three were: in the dirt, well outside, and up at sasahe height).

Clement led off the eighth with a single, took second on a Banda wild pitch and scored on IKF's single  through the 5/6 hole into left.

As for Yesavage, he stranded two runners in the fourth, and retired the side in order in the fifth and sixth. He began the seventh with a K before Teoscar H. singled. Edman batted from an 0-2 count to 3-2 but hit into a 5-4-3 double play.

Seranthony Domínguez had an easy eighth. A first-to-pitcher ground out, a strikeout, a walk (during which plate umpire Alan Porter blew the calls on consecutive pitches), and a line out to first. Jeff Hoffman gave up a leadoff single to start the home ninth, but the runner went no further. A fly to left and two strikeouts ended the game. Describing the pitches to the last two hitters would consist of repeating the phrase "down and away" over and over, like Jim Garrison in a court room. And that's today's Ser Story.

So . . . I fuckin cannot stand Buck Martinez. His extremely nasal voice should make him a very popular target of impressionists, but he calls Blue Jays games in Canada, so no one gives a shit. Both Buck and Ron Shulman slipped up and acted professionally during Game 3, probably because both teams were so evenly matched and the game was so tense and constantly amazing, they forgot their roles as mindless shills for the Jays. I had to mute the TV several times during Game 4 and grind through a few other rough spots. 

On nights I worked, the game was muted on my computer, but my partner Laura was watching Sportsnet and being tortured. She said they both had given up any pretext of neutrality and were gushing non-stop over the Blue Jays like a couple of ignorant fans in the stands. When they weren't mindlessly polluting the airwaves by repeating every worthless, overused cliche you can think of, they  were busy spinning everything that happened on the field as a "win" for the Blue Jays. Even when the Jays did something that was clearly not ideal (like swinging at pitches way out of the strike zone), they argued that, no, it was great because blahblahblahblah. I kind of wanted to go back and re-watch a bit with the sound on, but I never did. (I'm amazed at people who listen to the fascists on US television (either the shameless propaganda channels or from shitposters in government) and transcribe and report on what they say. A younger me would love to work at a place like Media Matters, but I couldn't do that kind of work.)

The two dongs to start the game clearly super-charged their inanity muscles and I scribbled some of the worst examples in the first two or three innings. 

Shulman, T1: "They can't wait to get to the ballpark." (Players on other WS teams avoid going to the park for as long as they can.)

Shulman, T2: He seemed truly astounded that between the ALCS and WS, Barger flew home for the birth of his third child. The ALCS ended on a Monday and the WS did not start until Friday. The more amazing thing is that the timing worked out for the Barger family, not that Barger flew round-trip from Toronto to Florida. Depending on where he lives, the flight is between three and four hours. He wasn't going to fuckin New Zealand for fuck's sake (which could take 22+ hours).

Martinez, T3: "Who does this better than Kirk?" He went gaga over Kirk fouling off a 2-2 pitch in the dirt. Here's a small example of a bad decision being presented as great. Kirk's foul kept the count at 2-2, but not swinging at a pitch off the plate and very close to the ground would have improved the count to 3-2. Kirk then swung and missed the next pitch and ended the inning. No one does it better!!

Martinez, B3: Buck also praised ALL of the Jays hitters for running up Snell's pitch count. He threw 45 pitches in the first three innings. Snell was not sharp, but the sooner the Jays got into LA's bullpen, the better, right? Probably. But after two innings, Yesavage had thrown two more pitches than Snell (27-26) and one more pitch after three (47-46). Yesavage's pitch limit was far more strict that Snell's, so in fact it was the Dodgers that were doing a better job of rushing the opposing pitcher out of the game.

Shulman, T4: "It's only the fourth inning, but that run [putting Toronto up 3-1] seems very big . . ." It turns out that Dodgers' run was the extent of their scoring, so the third run was not big at all. Toronto could have won 2-1. Admitting it's only the top of the fourth is also an admission that feeling is all in your head and has no relationship to reality.

Martinez, B4: "This is a beautiful trip to the mound." Martinez was a catcher, so he's especially tuned in to what a catcher should do. But this praise is Sutcliffian in its inflating something minor into a Hall of Fame-worthy action.

Martinez, T7: Barger made a nice sliding catch on a line drive for the first out in the B6. Yesavage said something to Barger in the dugout as the T7 began. Speaking of the 22-year-old pitcher: "He knows what's going on around him." Most fans would assume he's utterly clueless, never turns around to look at his fielders at all (probably believes he's in Pittsburgh), but Martinez's astute analysis is pure in-game education.

Both announcers have said several times how LOUD Dodger Stadium is. They do not mean the fans, they mean the sound system. They say it's the loudest system in the majors by a wide margin. (And they call games at Skydome, which can be so loud between innings, it's impossible (literally) to converse with the person next to you. Though I doubt they would complain about the noise at Skydome if it was the worst.) You can tell through the TV that everything is cranked. They are especially fond of playing the slow droney bit from the beginning of "Iron Man" and the drum/cymbal clatter from the start of "Hot For Teacher". The noise is a real shame. We were at a Dodgers game late in 2003 and it was not like that at all. Organ music between innings, as if the whole point of being there was the baseball game. What a fuckin concept.

They have also described this series as being dominated by the splitter. A lot of pitchers on both teams rely heavily on split-finger fastballs. And yet every plate umpire's judgment on pitches at the bottom of the strike zone and below has been shit. Some calls have been eye-poppingly wrong. Low pitches are tough to judge in general, but I'd be extremely surprised if anyone in power at MLB considered this and assigned umpires who are the best, relatively speaking, at calling low pitches. Extremely surprised.

Shulman and Martinez are going to be absolutely unlistenable on Friday. But I don't want to experience Game 6 in silence. . . . Sigh. . . . If I mute, how will I know if these players "understand" that it's "Game 6"? How else will I learn that "this" is what they "play for"? Will all of them be wearing his "game face" ? And, perhaps most importantly, when a ballplayer is shown on TV, how can I be sure that he is a "ballplayer"?