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The 2025 World Series continues tonight as the Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers face off in Game 2.
The Blue Jays lead the series 1-0 after a dominant 11-4 win at home yesterday.
Follow below for all the news, updates and analysis from Game 2.
Establish the fastball. The Dodgers have two regulars who are prone to chasing — Teoscar Hernández and Andy Pages. The rest make you really work for strikes. Kevin Gausman needs to get to his out pitch, the splitter, but if the Dodgers don’t believe he’ll locate it (like Trey Yesavage) they’ll begin to sit on something else. As minor league manager and former MLB player Shelley Duncan said in our Game 1 live coverage, “You can’t get chases on the split unless you establish the fastball down in the strike zone.” Nationals starter Trevor Williams echoed that thought in our coverage. If Gausman shows the Dodgers that bottom-rail heater, that puts splitter chase in play.
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Spit on the splitter. Yoshinobu Yamamoto has a handful of nasty offerings, but the splitter is his punchout pitch. Hitters whiffed on 42.1 percent of swings at that pitch this season. The Dodgers were able to get Jays rookie Trey Yesavage off the splitter early in Game 1 because they forced him to come into the strike zone with the pitch, and he wasn’t able to locate it like his four-seamer or slider. Yamamoto has a wider arsenal and one of the best four-seamers in the sport, so taking away one pitch won’t topple his game plan. But refusing to chase spin down sure would.
Tax Yamamoto. In the regular season, the Blue Jays were fourth in the majors in runs scored but fourth lowest in the league in the number of pitches seen per plate appearance. That’s not the story being told of the Jays this postseason, as they’ve continually worked counts, fought off tough pitches to extend at-bats and prioritized contact over do-damage swings. A key in this World Series, as seen in Game 1, is to get to the Dodgers bullpen as early as possible. The quicker Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s pitch count climbs, the sooner action starts in the Dodgers bullpen.
Next up, let’s take a look at three keys to victory for the Blue Jays tonight as they look to build on last night's victory …
The World Series could happen anywhere, but you can only find it here. I enjoyed this exchange with John Schneider before the game.
Q. I have to ask you this. Two questions. I was scrolling this morning and I saw this story. My mind was blown. Trey Yesavage only makes $57,000 a year, living out of a van or something, going hotel to hotel.
JOHN SCHNEIDER: I think he makes more than that.
Q. So this is my question: Is that true? Because what do we have to do to get him a raise?
JOHN SCHNEIDER: I think we gave him, like, $8 million out of the draft, didn't we?
Q. The story was everywhere.
JOHN SCHNEIDER: He's making more money than me – he's got more money than me. That might be prorated Major League minimum for the time he's been here. But I think it's more than 57K.
For what it is worth, the Jays paid Yesavage $4.18 million after choosing him with the 20th pick in last year’s draft.
Several celebrities are in the house for Game 2 tonight, including singer Joe Jonas, USMNT goalkeeper Matt Turner, actor Eric McCormack and former softball player Jennie Finch.
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Here's the third and final trivia question we'll be asking you tonight:
The last time the Blue Jays hosted Game 2 of the World Series, in 1993, they lost to a pitcher whose last name is also the name of a prominent street in Los Angeles County. Can you name this well-traveled lefty?
Send us your answer at live@theathletic.com – we'll be posting the answer at the bottom of the hour and congratulating any correct guesses by readers!
Mingo (pictured above) is a born and raised Los Angeles Dodgers fan. He flew from L.A. to Toronto so he could attend the first two games of the World Series.
It’s his first time in Toronto and praised the city’s friendly vibe, especially in comparison to going to New York last year for the World Series.
“A lot friendlier than Yankees fans,” he said.
He isn’t worried about the Dodgers after his team lost Game 1 but isn’t taking the Blue Jays lightly either.
“The Blue Jays are tough.”
We’re into the final hour before Game 2 of the World Series, so let’s play catchup for those of you just joining us.
Bo Bichette warmed up ahead of today’s game wearing a shirt featuring the iconic young Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hat tip moment.
Our Cody Stavenhagen caught up with Paul Chiasson, the photojournalist who captured the picture in 2002.
“Let’s face it,” Chiasson said. “At that age, you would have to be a really good scout to figure out that Jr. is going to be a top baseball player.”
As we get ready for tonight, let’s look back at the Blue Jays’ first World Series Game 2, in 1992 against the Atlanta Braves. It’s worth remembering, since it featured the single most important Game 2 hit in the history of the World Series.
That’s right, folks. According to the Pivotal Play Finder at Baseball-Reference, Ed Sprague’s go-ahead homer in the ninth inning caused the single biggest probability swing of any play in any Game 2 – 21.28% in Championship Win Probability Added.
That’s an obscure (but fascinating) stat without much context. So let’s set the scene. The Braves had won the opener behind Tom Glavine, and John Smoltz had worked into the eighth inning of Game 2. The man who collected the final out of that inning, Jeff Reardon, was the all-time leader in saves at the time, with 357. Reardon was 37 years old, but still effective: in 18 games with the Braves, his ERA was 0.96.
With a 4-3 lead, Reardon needed to navigate the bottom of the order to give Atlanta a two games to none series lead. He retired Pat Borders – the eventual World Series MVP – to lead off the ninth. But then Reardon walked pinch-hitter Derek Bell (there’s always a walk), and manager Cito Gaston called for Sprague to bat for pitcher Duane Ward.
I spoke with Sprague about this moment for my book “The Grandest Stage: A History of the World Series.” He said he checked with teammate Rance Mulliniks, a veteran at the end of his career who had faced Reardon often. He’ll try to get you to chase a high fastball, Mulliniks told Sprague, so make sure to get him down in the zone. Sprague considered taking a pitch, but thought better of it. He would hunt the low fastball and belt the first one he saw. A double play would have ended the game, but Sprague was not thinking about that. He felt strangely calm. It had been a trying year for Sprague, a former first-round pick who was struggling as a backup catcher because Kelly Gruber was blocking him at third. But when his big chance came, he was ready to seize it.
“It was probably one of the most relaxed at-bats I ever had in my career, one that was completely in the moment,” he says. “You think about the movie ‘For Love of the Game’ – clear the mechanism.” Sprague freed his mind to put his plan into action. He got a first-pitch fastball down the middle, just below the belt, and hammered it into the left field seats, over a sign marking the spot of Hank Aaron’s record 715th home run. The Blue Jays won, 5-4, then took command of the World Series at home.
Their six-game victory earned them a trip to meet President George H.W. Bush – a baseball fanatic who was happy to honor (or is it honour?) the first Canadian World Series champions at the White House. Bush gave Gaston a baseball card Topps had made of him in his Yale uniform. Gaston gave Sprague third base.
“Cito grabbed me at the airport after the White House trip and he says, ‘Hey, we traded Kelly Gruber, do you want to go back to third?’” Sprague says. “And I’m like, Pat Borders is the catcher, he’s the World Series M.V.P. – ‘Yeah, I want to go back!’” Sprague took over for Gruber as the everyday third baseman in 1993, and helped bring another championship to Toronto.
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George, the owner of George’s Gourmet, is serving up hot dogs for fans outside the ballpark. His hot dog stand has been a staple outside Rogers Centre since the stadium opened on June 3, 1989 with the name SkyDome.
A popular food choice before a critical Game 2.
Get the ball to Sasaki. Whatever the bridge looks like, whether it’s Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitching deep or Blake Treinen stepping up or some homegrown lefty firing two brilliant innings of relief, the Dodgers need to get the ball to the only reliever they seem to truly trust this postseason. Roki Sasaki’s emergence was one of the best postseason stories of the first three rounds. The Dodgers have to make that matter here in the World Series.
Cash in on scoring opportunities. The Dodgers didn’t get the most out of their early scoring chances in Game 1. Can they take charge in Game 2? Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman has reverse splits, and Mookie Betts is a right-handed hitter with an extensive history (and an .869 OPS) against him. Gausman doesn’t throw up in the zone very much, and Will Smith tends to slug on pitches down in the zone. Max Muncy is 6-fort-18 with two doubles, three homers, five walks and a 1.423 OPS in his career against Gausman. Someone needs to step up, deliver, and take the crowd out of this one.
It starts with the starter. The Blue Jays played to their strengths in Game 1. They made contact, used their bench, and got the bullpen matchups they wanted. For the Dodgers to play to their strengths in Game 2, they need another burden-lifting performance from starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto. He doesn’t necessarily have to pitch all nine innings like he did in the NLCS — or, maybe he does — but a deep outing would minimize the team’s obvious vulnerability in the bullpen.
Next up, let’s take a look at three keys to victory for the Dodgers tonight as the defending champions look to bounce back from last night's loss …
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Approximately 90 minutes until first pitch, and there’s still a lot of fans walking around outside the Rogers Centre. Ace, the Blue Jays mascot, is dancing to the DJ’s tunes, including LMFAO’s “Party Rock Anthem.”
It’s definitely a party atmosphere as the anticipation builds for Game 2!
At the top of the hour, we asked you the following:
The Dodgers have now played every AL East team in the World Series. They’ve also played five other current AL teams. Name the five teams the Dodgers franchise has never faced in the Fall Classic.
Those five teams are the Angels, Mariners, Rangers, Royals and Tigers.
Congratulations to readers Mike C. and Josh S. who wrote in with the correct answer!
Always a delight to see what creative signs fans create and bring to World Series games.
Here is a father, mother and son who created these signs in support of the Toronto Blue Jays.
“Let’s go Blue Jays” and “Beat LA! Bautista Bat Flips” they read.