The Dodgers got back to the World Series by riding a starting rotation on an otherworldly run this month. That earned Blake Snell extra rope in Game 1 but he tripped on it, and the Blue Jays pounced in a nine-run
sixth inning in an 11-4 blowout on Friday night at Rogers Centre in Toronto, handing Los Angeles their second loss of the postseason.
Snell began the sixth inning at 84 pitches in a 2-2 tie, well within range to try and get at least one more inning from him. But he didn’t record an out, loading the bases with a walk, single, and hit by pitch. Any question as to why manager Dave Roberts might have stuck with Snell was answered by what happened next after turning to a depleted, under-performing bullpen.
Emmet Sheehan allowed two singles and a walk to score all three inherited runners before recording an out. Sheehan is a starter by trade and is pitching in a new role in relief in the postseason, but he’s allowed runs in all four appearances and has only retired 11 of his 22 batters faced so far.
With the bases still loaded and one out, Anthony Banda was brought in to limit the damage but instead allowed a grand slam to Addison Barger to end the competitive phase of this game.
Another single and a two-run home run by Alejandro Kirk finished off a nine-run inning.
Snell, Sheehan, and Banda combined to throw 44 pitches in the fateful frame, and allowed six hits, two walks, and a hit batter. Dodgers pitchers allowed eight runs in their previous 53 innings before giving up nine runs in the sixth inning of Game 1.
Call and response
After inducing 64 swinging strikes over 21 innings in his first three postseason starts, Snell didn’t miss a bat until his 28th pitch on Friday. That pitch came in a first-inning in which he walked two and allowed a ground-ball single to load the bases. A flyout one pitch later by Daulton Varsho got Snell out of the opening frame with no damage other than stressing his odometer.
Trey Yesavage after getting through the Hall of Fame trio in the first inning had his own 29-pitch inning in which he stranded the bases loaded, in the second. But the Dodgers managed to get a run, with Kiké Hernández singling home Teoscar Hernández, before stranding three. The bases were loaded with one out, but Andy Pages chased a low full-count pitch to strike out followed by a groundout by Shohei Ohtani to end the frame.
Ernie Clement singled off Snell to open the second inning, then with two outs got thrown out trying advance to third base on a wild infield single by George Springer. Freddie Freeman thought about throwing to second base, then whirled and threw to a covering Snell, who couldn’t get to first base before Springer. Seeing Clement race for third, Snell alertly threw to third base to end the inning, your standard 3-1-5 putout.
Yesavage lost the feel for his split-fingered pitch and walked a pair to open the second inning. Will Smith singled home Mookie Betts for another run, but Freddie Freeman got caught up between second and third, eating into a potentially big rally. Both teams traded outs on the bases in consecutive half-innings.
After a few innings of rallies, the Blue Jays turned on the power spigot in the fourth inning, with Kirk slamming a ball hard off the right field wall for a single (the ricochet to Teoscar Hernández was fast and perfect, giving the slow-footed catcher no chance at a double), but then Varsho crushed a two-run shot to center field to tie the score.
That snapped Snell’s scoreless streak at 17 innings, and was his first home run allowed since August 29, going 190 batters in between long balls allowed.
Notes
Ohtani added a two-run home run in the seventh inning, his first career World Series home run. He’s the first Dodger ever with four home runs in a two-game span in the postseason.
Nine runs allowed is the most in an inning by the Dodgers in the postseason, beating out the eight runs allowed to the Cardinals in the seventh inning of Game 1 of the 2014 NLDS. The Dodgers’ previous worst World Series inning was the third inning of Game 1 in 1959, allowing seven runs in an 11-0 loss on the road to the White Sox. The Dodgers won that Fall Classic in six games.
World Series Game 1 particulars
Home runs: Shohei Ohtani (6); Daulton Varsho (3), Addison Barger (3), Alejandro Kirk (4)
WP — Seranthony Domínguez (2-0): 1 1/3 IP, 2 strikeouts
LP — Blake Snell (3-1): 5 IP, 8 hits, 5 runs, 3 walks, 4 strikeouts
Up next
Yoshinobu Yamamoto takes the ball for the Dodgers as the two teams finish off the first scheduled Toronto leg of the series on Saturday night (5-ish p.m. PT, Fox). Kevin Gausman starts on the mound for the Blue Jays.
