The opening salvo of the three-game rematch of last year’s World Series was a one-sided affair, in which the Dodgers drubbed the Toronto Blue Jays 14-2 on Monday night at Rogers Centre.
After scoring only seven runs in three games in a languid series against the Cleveland Guardians at home, the Dodgers offense has come alive on the road, topping that figure in each of the first four games of the road trip.
Home runs provided the highlights of the series opener, including a career day by catcher Dalton
Rushing.
Rushing got a second straight start behind the plate on Monday — manager Dave Roberts told reporters in Toronto it was partly so Will Smith would catch Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Ohtani in the final two games of the series — and had four hits, his first major league game with more than two hits. He homered in the seventh and eighth innings as the Dodgers just kept scoring.
Coupled with his home run in Sunday’s comeback win in Washington D.C., Rushing has hits in each of his last five at-bats, with three home runs, and he’s reached base six plate appearances in a row.
Teoscar Hernández started off the scoring with a two-run shot in the first inning, part of a four-RBI night for the left fielder. Hernández, who played for the Blue Jays from 2017-22, has 53 career home runs in 252 career games at Rogers Center, his most at any MLB park, though he entered Monday with a 117 wRC+ in this ballpark, right in line with his overall 118 wRC+ line to that point.
Freddie Freeman added a two-run shot in the third inning and later doubled home another run, giving him six extra-base hits in his last five games. Freeman, whose parents were both from Canada and who represented the country in two World Baseball Classics, has seven home runs in 19 career games in Toronto.
Shohei Ohtani reached base two more times Monday, including a solo home run in the sixth inning, his third home run on the road trip after hitting none on the opening homestand. Ohtani has now reached base in 41 consecutive games, the tied with Eric Karros for the ninth-longest longest streak in Dodgers franchise history.
Justin Wrobleski’s first turn this season in the rotation hit a speed bump in a two-walk, two-single first inning that brought home run and needed 29 pitches to complete. But after that, the left-hander settled down and was much more efficient.
Wrobleski needed only 49 pitches to get through the next four frames, during which he allowed only two walks and no more hits. On the night he allowed only four hard-hit balls, two of which came in the first inning.
Notes
- Four straight game scoring at least eight runs is one shy of the Dodgers franchise record. The team has had seven five-game streaks, the last coming from September 15-19, 2024. The last game of that last streak was quite memorable in Miami.
- Dodgers have scored in 22 of 36 innings on this road trip, including multiple runs in 12 different innings.
- Max Scherzer left after only two innings and 36 pitches with an undisclosed injury. Toronto’s rotation was already literally hurting, with starters Trey Yesavage, Shane Bieber, José Berrios, and Cody Ponce all on the injured list.
Monday particulars
Home runs: Teoscar Hernández (2), Freddie Freeman (3), Shohei Ohtani (3), Dalton Rushing 2 (3)
WP — Justin Wrobleski (1-0): 5 IP, 2 hits, 1 run, 4 walks, 2 strikeouts
LP — Max Scherzer (1-1): 2 IP, 2 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts
Up next
Yoshinobu Yamamoto has won all three of his career games at Rogers Centre, and will go for a fourth win in Toronto on Tuesday night (4:07 p.m.; SportsNet LA, TBS), in a fantastic pitching matchup against Kevin Gausman for the Blue Jays.
