Blue Jays on brink of World Series crown after Yesavage tames Dodgers in Game 5 | World Series

Trey Yesavage delivered a performance for the ages and Davis Schneider scored on the very first pitch of the night as the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-1 on Wednesday, moving within a win of their first World Series championship since 1993.

Yesavage, 22, who made his major league debut in September, struck out 12 without walking — the first pitcher in World Series history to do so — while allowing one run on three hits in seven innings. The rookie right-hander, who started the year pitching in front of a few hundred fans in Class A ball, has now started and won two of Toronto’s three wins in the best-of-seven series.

Toronto’s hitters gave him some breathing room almost immediately. On Blake Snell’s first pitch of the game, Schneider threw a 97 mph fastball and drove it over the left field wall. Two pitches later, Vladimir Guerrero Jr followed with another blast in almost the same spot. It was the first time in World Series history that back-to-back home runs opened a game, stunning the Dodger Stadium crowd before most had found their footing.

Yesavage then got to work. He struck out five consecutive batters between the second and third innings to set a rookie record before Kiké Hernández finally broke the streak and the shutout, with a solo home run in the bottom of the third to make it 2-1. It was as close as Los Angeles could get.

In the fourth, Daulton Varsho tripled down the right field line after Teoscar Hernández misplayed the ball, and Ernie Clement lifted a sacrifice fly to bring it home for a 3-1 lead. The Dodgers’ offensive struggles intensified from there. After scoring nine runs in Monday’s 18-inning marathon, they managed just four in the final 29 innings.

Snell fought through six and two-thirds innings, but couldn’t escape in the seventh, when the Blue Jays loaded the bases and chased him after 109 pitches. The two runners he left behind came in to score – one on a wild pitch from reliever Edgardo Henriquez and another on Bo Bichette’s RBI single – to extend the lead to 5-1. Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s single in the eighth provided the final margin.

Yesavage walked out to a standing ovation from the Toronto faithful who made the trip west, and the bullpen did the rest. Seranthony Domínguez and Jeff Hoffman each worked a scoreless inning to close out the game, combining for three strikeouts while preserving the rookie’s masterpiece.

The Dodgers, who shuffled their lineup in search of a spark by moving Will Smith to second and moving Mookie Betts back to third, once again found little traction. Shohei Ohtani went 0 for 4 and is now hitless in seven at-bats since hitting a World Series record nine times in Game 3.

Now down 3-2, Toronto returns home with two chances to clinch its first title in 32 years. Game 6 is Friday at Rogers Center, where the Blue Jays can make one of the most improbable championship runs in franchise history.