Blue Jays manager says pitcher Yesavage is raising ceiling for team
Schneider hails Yesavage’s impact after dominant performance puts Blue Jays on brink of title.
TORONTO — One year ago, John Schneider spent Halloween night in a lawn chair, sipping a beer in a neighbor’s driveway and watching the kids trick-or-treat. Not a big Halloween guy.
“I think it’s a made-up holiday, anyway.”
This year, the Toronto Blue Jays manager will vie for something much more real: His franchise’s first World Series championship since 1993.
Yep, life has changed an awful lot for the Blue Jays in a year and, after nine innings (or more) of World Series Game 6, they may be forever altered. Standing in their way: The defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers and ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who has pitched consecutive complete games, including a Game 2 conquest of Blue Jays ace Kevin Gausman.
They’ll run that matchup back at Rogers Centre, where outside, hundreds of Toronto police are “fully mobilized” for what should be an uproarious celebration.
The Dodgers would like nothing more than to make them squad up yet again for a Game 7. With that in mind, manager Dave Roberts tweaked his lineup again, moving Tommy Edman to center, giving Miguel Rojas a start at second base and bumping down Mookie Betts yet again, from second to third to fourth in a matter of three games as the former MVP battles a 3 for 23 cooler in this World Series.
A meaningless trick, or a treat the Dodgers ride to a Game 7? Stay tuned.
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World Series Game 6 will air on Fox and can be streamed with Fubo.
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Yoshinobu Yamamoto looked to be cruising through a sixth scoreless inning, but Vladimir Guerrero Jr. doubled with two outs and Yamamoto walked Bo Bichette. With two on, Yamamoto struck out Daulton Varsho swinging to strand the runners and send the game to the seventh inning.
TORONTO – The Dodgers are more than halfway to forcing a World Series Game 7. And the way Yoshinobu Yamamoto is pitching, that gulf to clear doesn’t look so wide.
Yamamoto has faced just three batters over the minimum as the Dodgers take a 3-1 lead over the Blue Jays into the top of the sixth.
Coming off consecutive complete games – a playoff feat unheard of in this era – Yamomoto is keeping himself in the conversation for a trifecta. His only blemish came in the third inning, when George Springer cashed in Addison Barger with an RBI single to trim the Dodgers’ lead.
In the top of the first, Max Muncy booted a grounder for an error – and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. immediately grounded into a double play.
In the fourth, Bo Bichette’s one-out single preceded Daulton Varsho’s inning-ending double play. And in the fifth, Mookie Betts booted another grounder that was ruled a hit. No matter. Yamomoto got a fly to center from Andrés Giménez to end the inning.
And that’s done plenty to silence a stuffed Rogers Centre fixing to celebrate a championship. Alas, Yamamoto has not issued a walk while striking out five, keeping his pitch count an economical 75.
If necessary, Game 7 of the World Series would be played on Saturday, Nov. 1 in Toronto
Addison Barger led off the bottom of the third with a double off Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who then retired Eenie Clement and Andres Gimenez. With two outs, George Springer had the green light on a 3-0 pitch and laced an RBI single to center field, cutting Toronto’s deficit to 3-1.
TORONTO – The Shohei Ohtani intentional walk has returned. And finally, Mookie Betts and the Dodgers made the Blue Jays pay.
Will Smith ended a string of offensive futility in the third inning of World Series Game 6 by lining an RBI double down the left field line off Kevin Gausman ,and two batters after an Ohtani intentional walk, Mookie Betts lined a two-run single to left field, giving the Dodgers a 3-0 lead heading to the bottom of the third.
Ohtani famously reached base all nine times in the Dodgers’ 18-inning Game 3 victory and the thinking was he might never see another pitch to hit.
Yet the Blue Jays navigated around Ohtani in winning Games 3 and 4, largely due to a lineup wholly ineffectual around him. In Game 6, Tommy Edman broke up Gausman’s seven-up, seven-down start with a double to the right field corner. Toronto manager John Schneider opted for a two-out intentional walk to Ohtani, and Will Smith punished him for it with an RBI single to left.
A Freddie Freeman walk loaded the bases for Betts, whose 3-for-23 World Series performance prompted a drop from second to third and finally fourth in the lineup.
Yet with one swing, Betts ended that schneid and one more: The Dodgers were 0-for-13 with the bases loaded before that swing.
TORONTO – The Dodgers had one week to prepare for a second look at Kevin Gausman. Knew the diet would largely be split-finger fastballs. That it would behoove them to lay off the pitch.
And they just can’t help themselves in Game 6 of the World Series.
Gausman struck out five of the first six batters he faced – finishing all of them off with the trusty splitty – as the Blue Jays and Dodgers are locked in a scoreless tie. Gausman served immediate notice, punching out Shohei Ohtani, getting swings and misses on three split-fingers, two out of the zone. Through two innings, he’s elicited 11 swings and misses on 15 splitters.
This is a game the Dodgers have to win. Gausman’s early showing will only heighten the pressure on their own ace, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who also posted a pair of spotless innings.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up a one-out single to Nathan Lukes – that should have been scored an error on third baseman Max Muncy – but got Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to ground into an inning-ending double play to send the game to the second inning scoreless.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman struck out Shohei Ohtani, Will Smith and Freddie Freeman in a perfect first inning.
Gausman threw 16 pitches in the frame, 11 for strikes.
TORONTO — George Springer will not miss the Toronto Blue Jays’ chance to win their first World Series since 1993. Springer, who exited World Series Game 3 wrenching his right side on a swing, is back atop Toronto’s lineup in Game 6.
The Blue Jays came back from a 2-1 deficit to take a 3-2 World Series lead without him. Yet Springer’s playoff exploits – an .884 OPS and four home runs, including a go-ahead three-run shot in ALCS Game 7 – have not been forgotten by his teammates.
“What he’s already done for this team during the playoffs has been so big for us,” infielder Bo Bichette said before Game 6. “I think having him in the lineup probably calms us all down a bit.”
TORONTO — Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts knows the significance and consequences of Friday’s World Series game.
They win Friday night (8 p.m. ET on FOX) against the Toronto Blue Jays, and they extend their season, forcing a Game 7 at the Rogers Centre.
They lose, and their season is abruptly over. And, fair or not, it will be considered a failure.
This is the way it works when you have one of the highest payrolls, the most talent in the game, and are heavy favorites to repeat as World Series champions. – Bob Nightengale
TORONTO – One of the game’s top two iconic franchises, loaded with international superstars, battling Canada’s only Major League Baseball club has produced audience metrics that range from pleasantly surprising to universally bountiful.
For Major League Baseball, this Los Angeles Dodgers-Toronto Blue Jays matchup has been a global smash, what with historic performances from the incomparable Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto to the presence of the Blue Jays, who have captivated Toronto and all of Canada like never before.
Game 1 averaged 32.6 million viewers across the USA, Canada and Japan, most since Game 7 of the 2016 World Series. And its combined Game 1-2 audience of 19.8 million in USA and Canada was up 24% from last season, also the highest since that historic 2016 Cubs-Cleveland battle. — Gabe Lacques
TORONTO — It’s only that the Dodgers’ biggest pitching star of all, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, will be the one starting Friday to save their season, trying to become only the fourth pitcher in history to throw three complete games in a single postseason.
If he pitches anything like he did in Game 2, when he threw a four-hit complete game, retiring the final 20 batters of the game for the first time in a World Series game since Don Larsen’s perfect game in 1956, you can book a Game 7.
“Man, hopefully he’s a little tired,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said, “throwing that many innings. He’s unique because he’s got what seems like six or seven pitches, and can kind of morph into different pitchers as the game kind of goes on.” — Bob Nightengale
- Shohei Ohtani (L) DH
- Will Smith (R) C
- Freddie Freeman (L) 1B
- Mookie Betts (R) SS
- Teoscar Hernández (R) RF
- Max Muncy (L) 3B
- Enrique Hernández (R) LF
- Tommy Edman (S) CF
- Miguel Rojas (R) 2B
- George Springer (R) DH
- Nathan Lukes (L) LF
- Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (R) 1B
- Bo Bichette (R) 2B
- Daulton Varsho (L) CF
- Alejandro Kirk (R) C
- Addison Barger (L) RF
- Ernie Clement (R) 3B
- Andrés Giménez (L) SS
Bob Nightengale: Blue Jays 5, Dodgers 2
There’s no stopping the Jays now. They are treating opposing starters as if they’re wearing Colorado Rockies uniforms. They’ll be celebrating deep into the hockey season after this night. Expert MLB daily picks: Unique MLB betting insights only at USA TODAY
Gabe Lacques: Blue Jays 4, Dodgers 2
This series has exposed anyone tempted to be a prisoner of the moment. And Yoshinobu Yamamoto will give the Dodgers a very fighting chance to stave off elimination. But in Games 3-5 in Los Angeles, the Blue Jays outscored the Dodgers 8-1 in the seventh through ninth innings. Yamamoto won’t throw a complete game this time. And that Dodgers bullpen isn’t getting any better.
Steve Gardner: Dodgers 3, Blue Jays 2 (10 innings)
The pitching matchup should be a great one, especially now that the bullpens have had time to reset. It’s going to be tough to manufacture runs so look for the longball to decide it, possibly off the bat of Shohei Ohtani in the late innings.
Jesse Yomtov: Dodgers 7, Blue Jays 3
Dodgers will get a couple of home runs and live to fight another day, giving us the first seven-game World Series since 2019.
- Joe Davis, play-by-play
- John Smoltz, color commentary
- Ken Rosenthal and Tom Verducci, dugout reporters
(As of 8:15 p.m. ET Friday)
- Vladimir Guerrero Jr. -200
- Shohei Ohtani +220
- Yoshinobu Yamamoto +1100
- Alejandro Kirk +2000
- Addison Barger +3000
- Trey Yesavage +3000
Veteran right-hander Kevin Gausman takes the mound for the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 6.
Gausman went 10-11 with a 3.59 ERA in the regular season and has made five playoff appearances this year, posting a 2.55 ERA in 24 ⅔ innings.
The Toronto Blue Jays won back-to-back World Series titles in 1992 and 1993, the only championships in franchise history.
Pitchers (12): LHP Anthony Banda, LHP Jack Dreyer, RHP Tyler Glasnow, RHP Edgardo Henriquez, LHP Clayton Kershaw, RHP Will Klein, RHP Roki Sasaki, RHP Emmet Sheehan, LHP Blake Snell, RHP Blake Treinen, LHP Justin Wrobleski, RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
Position, two-way players (14): SS Mookie Betts, OF Alex Call, OF Justin Dean, INF/OF Tommy Edman, 1B Freddie Freeman, INF/OF Kiké Hernández, OF Teoscar Hernández, INF/OF Hyeseong Kim, 3B Max Muncy, DH/P Shohei Ohtani, OF Andy Pages, INF Miguel Rojas, C Ben Rortvedt, C Will Smith.
Pitchers (12): RHP Chris Bassitt, RHP Shane Bieber, RHP Seranthony Dominguez, RHP Braydon Fisher, LHP Mason Fluharty, RHP Kevin Gausman, RHP Jeff Hoffman, LHP Eric Lauer, LHP Brendon Little, RHP Max Scherzer, RHP Louis Varland, RHP Trey Yesavage.
Position players (14): C Tyler Heineman, C Alejandro Kirk, INF/OF Addison Barger, INF Bo Bichette, INF Ernie Clement, INF Ty France, INF Andrés Giménez, INF Vladimir Guerrero Jr., INF Isiah Kiner-Falefa, OF Nathan Lukes, OF Davis Schneider, OF George Springer, OF Myles Straw, OF Daulton Varsho.
- 2024: Dodgers
- 2023: Rangers
- 2022: Astros
- 2021: Braves
- 2020: Dodgers
- 2019: Nationals
- 2018: Red Sox
- 2017: Astros
- 2016: Cubs
- 2015: Royals
- 2014: Giants
- 2013: Red Sox
- 2012: Giants
- 2011: Cardinals
- 2010: Giants
The 2025 World Series marks the Dodgers’ 27th appearance in the Fall Classic.
Watch World Series LIVE on Fubo
Game 6 of the 2025 World Series begins at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. ET on Friday.
The Blue Jays have won two World Series titles in franchise history: 1992 over the Atlanta Braves and 1993 over the Philadelphia Phillies.
Shohei Ohtani signed a 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers prior to the 2024 season. The largest contract in the history of North American pro sports when he signed in, the deal defers $680 million of the package to payments that start in 2034.
First pitch is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET at Rogers Centre in Toronto.
