World Series Recap
This world series was one of the best world series of all time, with a lot of amazing storylines, statlines and much more. This world series was not one to forget. It even included one of the best phrases in sports, World Series Game 7. The Los Angeles Dodgers vs. The Toronto Blue Jays, the 121st World Series.
Game 1: The Blue Jays started the series up against a monster. Toronto’s game one starter, rookie pitcher Trey Yesavage. He didn’t pitch great and needed to settle into his ace role. The Dodgers got out to a 2-0 lead early, but the Blue Jays answered back fast with a Daulton Varsho 2-run bomb. From there on, this game was all Jays. Addison Barger hit a grand slam in the 6th inning en route to a 11-4 game 1 victory. Teams to win Game 1 of any best-of-seven postseason series have gone on to win that series 64.8% of the time.
Game 2: This game was rather boring for the average baseball fan. Japanese pitcher, Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched a complete game gem to cement his legacy in baseball. Will Smith and Max Muncy had a pair of solo shots to help the Dodgers equalize the series with a 5-1 victory heading to LA.
Game 3: This was a very fun but long game. There was a lot of back and forth from the offenses, The Dodgers starting out with 2 homers in the 2nd and the 3rd from Teoscar Hernandez and Shohei Ohtani. The score going into the 4th was 2-0. Then in the 4th Alejandro had a 3 run homer, making the game 3-2, but not for long as Andrés Giménez hit a sac fly, giving the blue jays a 2 run lead. But in the 5th it didn’t end there, Ohtani doubled to center, leading to a score from Kike Hernández, then later on in the inning Freddie freeman singled leading to Ohtani scoring and tying the game up at 4-4. Then there was a break from the scoring in the 6th, just for the 7th to end that with a Bo Bichette single leading to Vlad Guerrero Jr. scoring. In the bottom of the 7th was an Ohtani homer, but this was nearly the last time anyone scored or did anything in this game. Might I add, Shohei’s stat line for this game: 4/4 (2 HR 2 2B, 5 intentional walks). Until after 18 long innings the clock struck midnight in Los Angeles and Freddie Freeman did what he does best, and clutched up and homered in a win for the Dodgers. The Dodgers win 6-5 over the Blue Jays.
Game 4: After Ohtani’s historic game 3, it was his turn to toe the rubber and face the Toronto lineup. Ohtani struggled and The Blue Jays had their offense firing on all cylinders. Vladdy’s third inning homer were the only fireworks shot in LA that night as the Blue Jays evened the series with a 6-2 victory.
Game 5: This was not a close game, Trey Yesavage, the rookie pitcher. Had the best start ever by a rookie in the world series. 7 IP 12 K’s 0 BB 1 ER, pure dominance coming from a mediocre start. And after dropping the last game this game was labeled more of a must win for the Dodgers, but the Dodgers did not come to play, leading to an offensive onslaught from the Blue Jays. This was a very boring and quick game. The final score was 6-1 Blue Jays, leading them to a 3-2 series lead.
Game 6: Now being down 3-2 in Game 6 the Dodgers needed a win to force game 7. The game itself was boring and longer for a world series game, as every run from both teams came in the 3rd inning. 3 from the Dodgers and only 1 from the Blue Jays. Will Smith doubled, and a Mookie Betts single, scoring 3 runs. The Blue Jays, on the other hand, scored one run that inning, a springer single and a Barger score. Excellent pitching from Yoshinobu Yamamoto held the Blue Jays at bay. In the ninth, the Blue Jays had a golden opportunity to walk off the series. A controversial ground rule double led to a two on-one out scenario. The Dodgers were able to get a double play off of a baserunning error by Barger forcing a game seven.
Game 7: As I said before, the best four words in sports: World Series Game Seven. All the hype, Drake vs. Kendrick, Canada vs. USA, Dodgers trying to repeat. It all comes down to this. Max Scherzer potentially made his last ever start in one of the most important games of his career. Shohei Ohtani as the starting pitcher for The Dodgers was a little worrisome because of his struggles in this series. No score until the bottom half of the 3rd when Bo Bichette hit a 3-run pimp shot to center. The Dodgers battled back making it a 1-run game, until the Blue Jays rallied making it a 2-run game in the 6th. All hope was lost for LA until Max Muncy hit a no doubter off of Trey Yesavage in the 8th. 1-run game going into the 9th. The Dodgers were down to their last two outs when out of nowhere Miguel Rojas hit a clutch game tying homer to left. Toronto was stunned. The baseball world was stunned. Yoshinobu Yamamoto came in to relieve for LA after throwing 96 pitches the night before. The Blue Jays had bases loaded 1 out, they didn’t score. An extremely close play at the plate and a nearly impossible collision course catch in left-center forced the game into extra innings. The game came to a close in the 11th inning when Dodgers catcher, Will Smith, hit a solo shot to left field. Yoshinobu Yamamoto threw another 3 outs sealing the repeat championship for LA.
Overall:
This was a really good series overall and made for some entertaining baseball. I hope that this is the direction that baseball keeps going in with exciting baseball, but I think this shows some other glaring issues. Like the salary cap or reworking it so the same teams don’t win every year. I think this is still a good thing, as it was very entertaining baseball and Yoshinobu Yamamoto had one of the best performances we have ever seen, along with Shohei Ohtani, the whole sport of baseball is glad to see some all time players having all time performances.
