Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays face off in a winner-take-all World Series Game 7
The matchup on the mound will befit the high-stakes situation.
For the Blue Jays, the seething ball of intensity that is Max Scherzer will start the game. Incredibly, it will be his second World Series Game 7 start, having helped the Washington Nationals win the 2019 crown over the Houston Astros. Scherzer is one of the last of his generation, a Rottweiler reborn as a hurler who deals strikeouts like a blackjack dealer and is making perhaps the last start of a career that will likely see him enshrined in Cooperstown.
When the Blue Jays bat, they will face the history-making machine that is Ohtani. The Dodgers named Ohtani the starter after Tyler Glasnow, another one of those high-priced stars, seemed destined to be handed the Game 7 start but needed to come on to get the final outs of Game 6.
Ohtani pitched in Game 4 and will only have three days of rest before he takes the mound in Game 7.
“He’s certainly going to be a part of the pitching plan. And with Shohei, it could be two innings, but it could be four innings,” manager Dave Roberts told the Fox broadcast. “So, I’m not sure where we’re going to slide him. We’re going to have to talk to him first and where he feels most comfortable.”
Expect the two managers to throw everything at Saturday’s matchup. Roberts refused to rule out using any of his pitchers, only saying he’d talk to them on Saturday morning to see how they’re feeling. Schneider said all of his pitchers were game to be involved, maybe even Game 6 starter Kevin Gausman.
“It’ll be all-hands-on-deck tomorrow,” he said after Friday’s win.
