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The Toronto Blue Jays have beaten the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-1 in Game 5 of the 2025 World Series, giving the Jays a 3-2 series lead with Game 6 (and Game 7 if necessary) to be played in Toronto.
Davis Schneider and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit back-to-back home runs off of Blake Snell to open the game, while Blue Jays starter Trey Yesavage, 22, broke the MLB record for most strikeouts by a rookie in a World Series game with 12.
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Those early home runs were awesome, and eight of the nine Blue Jays starters had a hit, but the kid on the mound was unbelievable.
This was Trey Yesavage’s eighth big league start, five of them have been in the playoffs, and this one might have been even better than his postseason debut against the Dodgers. He got 23 swing and misses, most of those on a slider that made some accomplished hitters look completely overmatched.
Yesavage broke Smoky Joe Wood’s record for the most World Series strikeouts by a pitcher 22 or younger, and he became the first pitcher of any age to strike out 12 batters in a World Series game since Orlando Hernández in 2000.
That’s a quarter century since anyone had been this dominant in a Fall Classic. Incredible.
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Can’t pin this one on a single hitter. Mookie Betts was 0-for-4. Freddie Freeman struck out three times. The top four Dodgers hitters — Shohei Ohtani, Will Smith, Betts and Freeman — combined to go 1-for-15 with eight strikeouts.
Behind them, Teoscar Hernández had a couple of hits but he also misplayed a ball in right field, which cost the Dodgers a run.
Just a rough night for the Dodgers stars, and now they’re a loss away from watching the Blue Jays celebrate.
Trust in the splitter ✅ Unable to command his splitter in Game 1, Trey Yesavage was a rookie without his primary weapon against the Dodgers lineup. Back on the mound in Game 5, he established the splitter early and showed he could throw it for strikes. He had everything working from the jump — fastball, slider, splitter — and he dotted so many pitches that the Dodgers started to chase those that weren’t. Yesavage got 23 whiffs. The Dodgers swung and missed at seven of the 10 splitters they offered at.
Make Snell work ✅ They made him work all right, but not in the way I had imagined. Rather than battle Blake Snell in deep counts, they were aggressive out of the gate. Snell started the game with three fastballs, and two of them were deposited beyond the left-field wall. He had to change his game plan entirely, leading with off-speed stuff and pitching backward to bring the heater back into play. Snell sailed after a while, enough that manger Dave Roberts permitted him to return to the mound for the seventh inning and throw 116 pitches. But once again, the Blue Jays outlasted the Dodgers ace.
Make every scoring chance count ✅ The Blue Jays continue to score in bunches, whether that’s the first two swings of the game or another late rally to chase an elite Dodgers starter. With Snell on a short leash in the seventh, Addison Barger led off with a single and Andrés Giménez walked. Even as Snell secured the second out of the inning before exiting, it felt inevitable that the Blue Jays would cash in once the Dodgers bullpen door opened. They did. Edgardo Henriquez threw one to the backstop, then Bo Bichette sliced a single to right field, and what had been a nail-biter turned into a four-run lead. Insurmountable, given how cold the Dodgers bats have gone. The Jays added an insurance run in the eighth.
A better Blake Snell ❌ Honestly, the big red X is a bit harsh, but the pitching line is what it is. This wasn’t the Snell who had dominated for a month-plus leading into the World Series. That said, Snell was better than in Game 1. He made two costly mistakes within his first three pitches, but the next Blue Jays run scored after a misplayed ball in right field, and the next two came when Dave Roberts tried to push Snell through the seventh because there were no better options in the bullpen. What the Dodgers needed was for Snell to be as good as Trey Yesavage, and that was an awfully hard standard to meet.
Outhit the Blue Jays ❌ Maybe this had more to do with Yesavage and less to do with the Dodgers, but they had only four hits tonight. No team was going to do much against Yesavage, but this has been an issue throughout the World Series. The Dodgers have hit for decent power — they hit another home run tonight — but they just haven’t consistently built innings. And they certainly didn’t build any tonight.
Get Mookie going ❌ Dave Roberts finally pulled him for the No. 2 spot in the lineup, but Mookie Betts was hitless again. He went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. He has a .657 OPS in the playoffs and a .361 OPS in the World Series. It doesn’t help that he’s one of four Dodgers regulars hitting below .200 this series.
Through five games, here is a comparison of the runs scored in the World Series. Toronto has an 11-run edge compared to Los Angeles, one of the reasons why the Blue Jays lead the World Series 3-2:
If this game was going to get away from Trey Yesavage, it was going to happen in the third inning when he made his only costly mistake of the night.
He’d struck out five in a row before Kiké Hernández hit a solo home run. It was a one-run game at that point, and the top of the Dodgers’ order was just around the corner. Yesavage was going to start facing hitters for a second time.
How did he respond? He got Alex Call to line out to center, then started his second turn through the order by striking out Shohei Ohtani flailing at a splitter.
Yesavage ultimately struck out five his second time through the order. He wasn’t in trouble. He was in complete control.
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Was this game over after three pitches? It might have been. Blue Jays leadoff hitter Davis Schneider — in that spot only because George Springer is hurt — homered on Blake Snell’s first pitch of the game.
Two pitches later, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. also went deep. It was the first time in World Series history that a team opened a game with back-to-back homers.
Snell wasn’t bad the rest of the way, but a misplayed ball in right field led to another run, and the Blue Jays tacked on late. Given the way Trey Yesavage was pitching, the Blue Jays only need two runs — and they got them with their first two batters.
Below is Trey Yesavage's splitter usage in the World Series. When his splitter is working, it is a stellar pitch.
Game 1:
Game 5:
Three pitches into the top of the first inning, the Toronto Blue Jays led 2-0 thanks to back-to-back homers by Davis Schneider and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. against Blake Snell.
This feat marked the first time that a team led off a World Series game with consecutive homers, immediately zapping the energy in Dodger Stadium.
The Toronto Blue Jays have an indelible connection to Game 6 of the World Series. As a franchise, they are 2-0 in World Series Game 6 with both victories leading to championships.
In 1992 against the Atlanta Braves on the road, the Blue Jays won 4-3 in the 11th innin, when pitcher Mike Timlin threw the final out to Joe Carter at first base.
In 1993 against the Philadelphia Phillies at home, Joe Carter hit a walk-off homer off Mitch Williams to capture back-to-back World Series titles.
Will Friday night be a similar result for the Blue Jays?
Trey Yesavage is having a historic playoff run, especially for a rookie.
Let's hear from the star of Game 5…
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Trey Yesavage broke the record for the most strikeouts by a rookie in a World Series game tonight, fanning 12 Dodgers in seven innings.
Check out all of the 22-year-old's strikeouts below…
Words that haven't been written in over three decades:
The Blue Jays are one win away from a World Series title.
Q: What do the Dodgers need to do to win twice with their backs against the wall in Toronto?
The middle of the order for the Dodgers needs to find their groove and take over. We haven’t seen Mookie Betts or Teoscar Hernández perform like we know they’re capable of. Freddie Freeman needs to have a couple of good games.
The Dodgers are a juggernaut when their dudes are all clicking. When they’re not, it’s hard to score.
The Blue Jays have shown they have the ability to score runs in a bunch of different ways. The Dodgers seem like they’re built different. They need their dogs.
Trey Yesavage had a masterful performance tonight. He went seven innings, throwing a World Series record 12 strikeouts for a rookie. He spoke to our Ken Rosenthal on the Fox broadcast after the game about his victory.
💬: “Just my belief. Belief in my defense, belief in Kirky behind the plate.
“Just needed to get in the strike zone. When three of my pitches are in the strike zone, I’m in control.”
Looking ahead, we’re going to see how good Yoshinobu Yamamoto really is when he faces a team for the second time and all the chips are on the line.
And that start is in a building that will be deafeningly loud.
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Q: Blue Jays are in the driver’s seat headed home. What do the Jays need to do to be able to close this thing out back home?
Keep turning up the pressure by doing exactly what they have been doing. Aggressive early in counts, put the baseball in play, and run the bases the way they have been.
They have 18 innings, and all they have to do is win nine of them. Pressure is on the Dodgers. They were the super team, they spent all the money, they have the best player on the planet. Let them continue to feel it.
▶️ The Toronto Blue Jays are heading back to the Rogers Centre with two chances to clinch the 2025 World Series title after taking two of three in Los Angeles! Jeff Hoffman seals the win in Game 5, striking out Teoscar Hernández to end it. All of the Dodgers momentum following a historic Game 3 win has dissipated. | Final Blue Jays 6, Dodgers 1
▶️ Even Freddie Freeman has been off at the plate tonight, striking out again on a slider below the zone. Los Angeles is down to its final out. | Bot 9th Blue Jays 6, Dodgers 1