I made a new pick on Wednesday. At noon ET on CBS Sports HQ at noon ET, I said the Dodgers would win Game 5 of the World Series. Six hours after that, on CBS Sports HQ in Dodger Stadium I announced I had changed my opinion and would be taking the Blue Jays. After the hit, my colleague asked who I thought would be the winner of the series. I replied that I thought the Blue Jays would win. After a Blue Jays 6-1 win in Game 5, after I had predicted the Dodgers to win the series in five games, I am now convinced that the Blue Jays will win the series. They’ve got the series.There has been a major shift in the mood for me, and it’s largely due to the Blue Jays. The clubhouse has a certain energy that is almost palpable. It’s true that every World Series team has said the same thing, and that every team that makes it here believes that it will win. It’s hard to describe the feeling. This Blue Jays squad feels as if they will simply not be denied. After Game 4, Ernie Clement quoted former U.S.A. hockey coach Herb Brooks in the clubhouse, saying the Jays are a “team of uncommon men.” Clement claimed that those uncommon men believed they were the best team in all of baseball.
Max Scherzer, a bouncy and excitable Max Scherzer, dismissed the idea that everyone thought the team had been as devastated after Game 3 as they themselves were. “What we saw in the clubhouse from everyone gave us reason for hope in each other. He said, “We responded in a huge way.”John Schneider, manager of the team, said this before Wednesday’s Game 5. “I believe these guys say right now that they have earned it and I think they truly believe in it.” “It’s like when Ernie told us, I love our ALCS chances when we were 3-2 down, I think they truly believe it and I love their self-confidence.”
They lost George Springer to injury. He has not played since leaving early from Game 3. The team is using a player who did not return from Tommy John surgery till August, alongside a rookie that only made three MLB appearances before the playoffs. The bullpen is a patchwork. Nathan Lukes has been in the minors for 10 years and is a rookie at 31. Bo Bichette plays injured. Anthony Santander was their big offseason acquisition, but he failed to impress in the regular-season. He is now out injured. The series was won despite losing the first two ALCS games at home. After a heartbreaking 18-inning loss in Game 3, they fell behind 2-1. They now have a lead of 3-2. They are returning home where they had a 54-27 record this season. This home record, including the playoffs is 59-30. That’s the best in baseball. In Game 5, the 22-year old rookie Trey Yesavage completely dominated Dodgers offense. He was incredible. As usual, he used his splitter pitch as his out pitch and was very heavy with his slider. He had 10 swings at the splitter and seven whiffs. He struck out 12 Dodgers in total, breaking the record for a rookie pitcher to strike out a World Series opponent. It was, coincidentally Don Newcombe, the Dodgers pitcher who held the previous record (1949, Game 1). Yesavage, a rookie of 22 years old, said that the weight that was placed on his shoulders is a huge deal. “But everyone here has my back.”
Yesavage allowed only three hits in the Game 5, two of which were singles infield. In his previous starts, he had never thrown a ball in the seventh inning. This was his seventh inning. Davis Schneider was also a master. In 15 Blue Jays’ postseason games, he has only started four. He hadn’t led off. He was placed in the corner, partly due to Springer’s injury. Blake Snell, two-time Cy Young award winner, delivered the first pitch to him. He then homered. This team has a mentality of “next man up”. Clement and Addison Barger and Daulton Varsho and Andrés Giménez and, well, pretty much everyone. Isiahkiner-Falefa had an RBI in this game. Of course, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. also hit a homerun right after Schneider. The first time in World Series history, a team had hit back-toback home runs. Snell’s career was marked by a double dose history, as he had never before allowed two first-inning homers.
Yesavage gave a great performance. It was an exciting start to the match. It’s an exceptional team. Snell was, by the way – on a massive run of dominance prior to the World Series. Blue Jays attacked him twice in this series. He’s given up 10 runs on 14 hits in 11 ⅔ innings. It’s a 7.71 ERA. His previous three postseason starts had an ERA of 0.86. The Jays are unstoppable. Even when they are missing a few players due to injuries, the team that led in the majors for batting average and can also hit with power is unstoppable. Both Games 4 and 5 were a demonstration of this. The players will not only hit home runs in large numbers, but also make sure you pay for any mistakes.
Take the third inning. The Dodgers were just able to cut the deficit down to 2-1. Daulton Vassho fired a shot along the right field fence. It was clearly a hit, but Teoscar Hernández misplayed it into a triple. Varsho immediately scored with a sac fly. They find new ways to punish the opposition. They do it again and again. In the seventh, a single as well as a walk were both used to score. The lead was now 5-1. A wild pitch helped to score a run in eighth. In 16 games of the postseason, they’ve hit 27 homeruns. They are relentless in their attacks. There is a certain air about the Jays. Look at the dugout on the opposite side. Was the Dodgers’ Game 5 performance characterized by a team that was fighting for its very existence or one that appeared lifeless? Yesavage was dominant, but there were plenty of Dodgers mistakes both on pitching and in defense. The Dodgers can win the series if they bounce back and look like their best selves. They could win at least two games in Toronto. Would anyone be surprised? I don’t believe it. The Blue Jays will win this series. They have the series in their hands and need only to win one of two home games.
Blue Jays in six. Blue Jays six. I was wrong in the past, but now I am tired of being incorrect about this group. Soon they will be crowned World Series Champions.
2025-10-30 03:28:39
