LOS ANGELES – At the end the seventh inning on Wednesday, the Dodger Stadium’s videoboard pleaded with the crowd of 52.175, to be loud. The request was in vain. An offense that has looked asleep since Monday’s late-night marathon, a bullpen that evokes dread and a Blue Jays rookie rising to heights previously unseen had already ripped out their hearts and crushed their souls. And now, after 22-year-old Trey Yesavage shut down the Dodgers’ star-laden lineup with a World Series rookie record 12 strikeouts over seven innings of a 6-1 win in Game 5, the reigning champions suddenly head back to Toronto on the brink of elimination. Freddie Freeman, the Dodgers and their batting struggled in the final two games. (Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) “It’s time for us, for the offense, to show up,” said Kiké Hernández. This is a refrain that has been repeated countless times this postseason by a lineup filled with All-Stars, MVPs, and other top players. The Dodgers were hitting.214 in the World Series as a whole. After a two run effort, they had scored less than four times per game on average since the division series began. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts resisted moving Mookie Betts lower in the order, even during his worst offensive season as a major leaguer. But the team’s funk had gotten to the point that Roberts and the Dodgers decided it was time to shuffle things up.Blue Jays 1 WIN AWAY Yesavage’s Historic WORLD SERIES Game 5 Dodgers’ Slump, A-Rod, Papi & Jeter “In the postseason,” Roberts said, “you’ve got to be a little bit more reactive.”So he moved Will Smith from the No. 2 spot in the lineup in Game 5, bumping Betts — who’s hitting .132 since the start of the championship series — and Freddie Freeman down, flipping Tommy Edman and Max Muncy in the order and removing the struggling Andy Pages in favor of Alex Call. It did not matter. The Dodgers have scored only four runs in their last 29 inning and responded with just one run. They are still looking for answers. Yesavage was the pitcher they couldn’t solve. He played for East Carolina University only a year before and came into the postseason having made three regular season starts. Shohei Ohtani combined with Betts and Freeman went hitless in the game. “I don’t want to speak on anybody else, but for myself, I’ve just been terrible,” Betts said. “I wish it were from lack of effort, but it’s not. I mean, that’s all I can say.” Mookie Bets and the Dodgers will now need to win two more games in Toronto. Max Fried and Blake Snell signed contracts worth $218 million with the Yankees and $182 million with the Dodgers before the start of the season. Both were highly sought after options. Yesavage, a 2024 first-round pick who was not even in Toronto’s big-league camp during spring training, has outdueled both of those aces in the pressure cooker of MLB’s postseason.In Game 2 of the ALDS, in Yesavage’s first ever playoff game and just his fourth ever big-league appearance, he outmatched Fried while striking out 11 batters in 5.1 scoreless, hitless innings against the Yankees. In Game 6 of the ALCS, an elimination game for the Blue Jays, Yesavage outlasted Mariners standout Logan Gilbert while surrendering just two runs in 5.2 innings to keep Toronto’s season alive. Yesavage also outdid Snell in both World Series matches. Yesavage said that the playoff check will be nice when it arrives. He was pitching at Single-A until June. Yesavage had a total of 42 whiffs in Game 5 against Dodgers. He struck out five consecutive batters at one point. He became the first pitcher to do so since Sandy Koufax, in 1963. Freeman stated that the game was a complete turnaround from Game 1. “His command tonight was pinpoint.”It didn’t hurt that Yesavage was pitching with a 2-0 lead two batters into the game. The Blue Jays have played just one more game than the Dodgers this postseason, yet they’ve scored 36 more runs. They’re a relentless offensive force due in large part to their ability to string together hits and put the ball in play, but they’re not a one-dimensional attack; they’ve also hit more homers than any team this postseason, including six more than the Dodgers. In Game 5, this power was evident from the beginning. Davis Schneider, the leadoff hitter, was waiting for a fastball on his first pitch and Snell delivered one. Schneider homered on the very first pitch. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. continued to have an extraordinary October by hitting his eighth postseason home run on a fastball that was thrown inside. Three pitches and two homers. A stunned stadium. Roberts stated, “You can see that they are finding new ways to hit, and move the ball forward, while we’re doing an awful job.”Snell gave the Dodgers an opportunity to recover, regrouping following those two early homers and allowing just one run in his next five innings. The offense, however, offered little resistance to Yesavage’s attack. “Hitting creates energy,” Hernández said, “and we weren’t getting hits.” Kiké Hernández’s solo home run was all the offense the Dodgers mustered. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) Hernández was responsible for the only run the Dodgers mustered on the night. Their plan was to get Yesavage up in the zone, and when Hernández finally got an elevated fastball in the third inning, he didn’t miss, blasting a 407-foot home run that served only as a brief jolt. “I think obviously the lane with him is up,” Hernández told me, “but his release is really high and the slider just below the zone, out of the hand it looks like a pitch up in the zone, and it just dies. His slider was a lot better, in my opinion tonight, than it was in Toronto, and it seemed like we weren’t really able to adjust to it.” As Freeman alluded to, the Dodgers faced a different version of Yesavage than the one they saw in Game 1, when the rookie surrendered just two runs over four innings despite a lack of command with his secondary offerings.In Game 5, Yesavage’s slider and splitter were untouchable. In Game 5, Yesavage’s slider and splitter were untouchable. They accounted alone for 21 swings and missed and finished each of his twelve strikeouts. “Obviously, the approach is to try to get him up, but he didn’t hardly throw anything up in the zone,” said Max Muncy. “He just kept it down. He was throwing punches. It’s tough to battle against that.” The Dodgers’ objective got even tougher in the seventh. At that time, the game remained within reach. Snell walked the 9-hole hitter with one out of the inning. Schneider was up for a fourth time and two runners were on the field. Roberts didn’t want to trust his unreliable relief pitchers so he left Snell to pitch. Snell was determined to get the strikeout. Unfortunately for Roberts, Snell’s pitch count was at 116. “It’s hard because you can only push a starter so much,” Roberts said. Blake was a tanker. Trey Yesavage’s 12 strikeouts vs. Dodgers Game 5: Edgardo Hernriquez stepped in, and immediately let the two inherited runners score. He also allowed each of the batters that he faced to get on base. Suddenly, the Dodgers’ deficit was four, with Yesavage still on the mound. Guerrero greeted the 22-year old after he finished his seventh and last frame with a double play that ended the inning. “It seems like at-bats are snowballing on us right now,” Hernández said. “We’re getting pitches to hit, we’re missing them, and we’re expanding the zone with two strikes. I think a day of rest is the best thing we can do. Take a day off to think about it and regroup. As a group, it’s time for us to show our character and put up a fight and see what happens.”Last year’s Dodgers demonstrated that resolve in the 2024 NLDS, when they won two elimination games in San Diego to move on and ultimately capture a World Series championship. As the series moves back to Toronto, they will need to repeat this feat on the road to defend their title, and be the first team in 25 years to win two championships back-to-back. Roberts stated, “I believe there is more there.” “I’m sure there’s more there.”World Series Game 6 Preview: Dodgers on the Brink vs. Blue Jays Big Papi, A-Rod & Jeter Weigh In If that’s not motivation enough, perhaps the scene after their Game 5 loss will serve as more. After the loss, Clayton Kershaw changed to a black sweatsuit and left the clubhouse. He walked down the hall, hugged a large group of family members and friends, before walking back onto the field at Dodger Stadium. It was Kershaw’s final home game in his 18-year career. Dodgers must win two consecutive games to give Kershaw his final ring. “We’ve been in this situation before, against the Padres,” Freeman said. “We can do it again.” Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He covered the L.A. Dodgers and Dallas Cowboys before. Rowan, an LSU graduate, was born and raised in California. He then grew up in Texas before moving back to the West Coast. Follow him on X at @RowanKavner. 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2025-10-30 16:40:46
Dodgers’ Offense Searching for Answers After a Rookie Put Them on the Ropes
