TORONTO — A day before playing for a World Series title, Davis Schneider went barefoot in the park.
Toronto players arrived at Rogers Centre at about 8 a.m. Thursday after a red-eye flight from Los Angeles that followed their 6-1 win over the Dodgers. By late afternoon, Schneider was ambling about the nearly empty ballpark, which will be filled to capacity Friday night with fans hungering to witness Toronto’s first title since 1993. He wore a tank top and ski cap, with no shoes.
“Walking around the outfield, get a feel of the grass, or turf I should say,” he explained. “I try to do that every single day, just walk around and get my body going.”
Schneider’s home run on Blake Snell’s first pitch launched Toronto to Wednesday’s victory that gave it a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven matchup. While for Games 1 and 2 last week Schneider had one of the 55 rooms with a view of the field at the Toronto Marriott City Centre Hotel, he was given regular lodging when he checked back in.
Addison Barger, the teammate who slept on Schneider’s sofa bed during the first leg, didn’t remain his roomie this weekend.
“He has the money to get his own room,” Schneider quipped. “He could have stayed, but he didn’t.”
Heavily favoured Los Angeles is seeking to become the first team to win back-to-back titles since the 1998-2000 New York Yankees won three in a row. Yoshinobu Yamamoto will start Friday for the Dodgers and Kevin Gausman for the Blue Jays in a rematch of Game 2. Check out all the action on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ (8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT).
