Heading to Toronto down 3-2 in the World Series, Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman isn’t giving up hope, but knows his team has to play better.
For a second straight game, the Dodgers’ vaunted offence was limited by the Blue Jays’ pitching, combining to score three runs between Games 4 and 5.
After Wednesday’s Game 5 loss, Freeman was asked about how the Dodgers can pull out of their slump at the plate.
“We all know what we’re capable of, and we haven’t done it for two games,” the 2020 NL MVP said. “So maybe the off-day will cool them down over there and will reginite us.”
For his part, Freeman was held to an 0-for-3 night by Blue Jays star rookie Trey Yesavage and closer Jeff Hoffman, striking out three times.
After Los Angeles jumped out to a 2-1 series lead on Freeman’s walk-off homer in the 18th inning of Game 3 on Monday, it seemed like the Dodgers may have been in the driver’s seat.
But the Blue Jays responded with back-to-back dominating victories, leaving any thoughts of the marathon loss behind.
“They (have) just played better baseball over the last two days,” Freeman said when asked if the 18-inning affair was affecting the Dodgers’ performance. “I don’t think anybody’s thinking about the game two days ago.
“I mean, it’s just plain and simple. They just played better than us today.”
Freeman also gave Yesavage credit for bouncing back after labouring through his start in Game 1.
The 22-year-old responded from his four-inning, two-run performance on Monday, with 12 strikeouts and no walks over seven dominant innings on Wednesday.
“That was a 180 on his command from his first game,” he said. “He had everything working tonight. But again, we got to put some runs on the board, do a better job, and we just haven’t done that so far.”
