The Athletic has live coverage of Dodgers vs. Blue Jays in Game 2 of the World Series.
TORONTO — No one familiar with the 2025 Toronto Blue Jays should be surprised. Well, maybe a little surprised, considering the opponent was the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, who allowed only four runs in sweeping the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Championship Series. But not too surprised, considering the way the Jays consistently demoralize top left-handed starters, whether in the regular season or October. Lefty and righty starters, actually.
Dodgers left-hander Blake Snell experienced the same type of frustration Friday night that the New York Yankees’ Max Fried and Carlos Rodón did in the Division Series. On July 26, even in a game in which the Jays were shut out for six innings by Detroit Tigers lefty Tarik Skubal, they forced the likely AL Cy Young winner to depart after 96 pitches. And then rallied against the Detroit bullpen for a 6-1 victory.
Game 1 of the World Series, a stunning 11-4 trouncing of the Dodgers, had echoes of the Skubal game. The Jays didn’t score in the first inning against Snell, but forced him to throw 29 pitches. They chased Snell in the sixth, producing a nine-run inning that was the third-largest in World Series history. They fouled off 39 pitches, finished with 14 hits and demonstrated they are underdogs in this series only in the minds of others.
They certainly don’t view themselves that way. The Dodgers can’t, either.
Shortstop Mookie Betts said while the Dodgers also are capable of scoring 10 or 11 runs in a game, it’s difficult to do in the postseason. Betts, though, quickly caught himself, mindful of the pummeling that had just taken place.
“They’ve been doing it the whole time,” Betts said of the Jays, “so it may not be hard for them.”
The Jays are averaging 6.83 runs per game in the postseason. Their rally from a 2-0 deficit Friday night marked their major-league high 53rd comeback, including playoffs. Right fielder Myles Straw said the players in the last month have joked in hitters’ meetings about falling behind early so they can stun their opponent late.
Before Game 1, designated hitter George Springer addressed the hitters, offering words of wisdom reflecting his 12 years of major-league experience, which includes 79 career postseason games and two prior World Series appearances.
Springer advised his teammates simply to be themselves.
“He gave a great talk,” Jays hitting coach David Popkins said. “It was, ‘Play our game, don’t try to do anything more, embrace the feelings that you feel, the stress, the pressure, it’s all there. I feel it, too. Just have fun and go do what we’ve done all year.’”
And so the Jays did, piling up one quality at-bat after another, grinding down Snell, pounding the Dodgers’ suspect bullpen. Their triumph included the first home run by a left-handed hitter off Snell since June 2, 2024, courtesy of Daulton Varsho, and the first pinch-hit grand slam in World Series history, courtesy of Addison Barger.
Snell, who gave up a career-high five hits on his changeup, said he didn’t command his pitches the way he should. He was much better against the Jays on Aug. 9, throwing five shutout innings, striking out 10. But even in that game, he was gone after 90 pitches.
On Friday night, he threw 100 and was removed after walking Bo Bichette, allowing a single to Alejandro Kirk and hitting Varsho to start the sixth.
“We’re not easy outs,” outfielder Nathan Lukes said. “This entire game, we all proved it.”
Lukes had one of the big plate appearances, a pinch-hit, RBI walk after falling behind 0-2 against Dodgers righty Emmet Sheehan in the sixth to increase the Jays’ lead to 4-2. But there were other at-bats worthy of mention. So many others.
The first big blow against Snell, Varsho’s game-tying two-run homer, came with none out in the fourth. Snell had not allowed a homer in seven starts since Aug. 29 and was working on a streak of 17 consecutive scoreless innings in the postseason. Varsho, meanwhile, had hit only nine of his 99 career homers off left-handers. But when Snell threw a first-pitch fastball down the middle, the game and possibly the series changed.
The fourth inning started with a single by Kirk, concluding an eight-pitch at-bat immediately before Varsho’s homer. Kirk’s night also included a nine-pitch walk in the first and a single and two-run homer in the nine-run sixth.
Typical Kirk, according to Jays right fielder Myles Straw.
“Kirk’s at-bats the whole year, they were insane,” Straw said. “He’s one of my top three players of all time. Just his swag and demeanor. Just the way he goes about it. He’s so chill. My blood’s boiling. I’m pacing. It’s like he’s playing in a spring-training game.”
The Jays’ starting lineup also included Bichette, playing for the first time since Sept. 6 and at second base for the first time since he was in Triple A in 2019. And it included two lesser right-handed hitters, left fielder Davis Schneider, who was 2-for-10 in the postseason, and Straw, who spent most of 2024 in the minors with Cleveland before reviving in ‘25 as a useful part with the Jays.
Bichette hit a first-inning single on a 3-0 count and drew a four-pitch walk, showing remarkable plate discipline for a player whose sprained left knee kept him out nearly seven weeks. Schneider went 0-for-3 before getting replaced by Barger, and Straw went 0-for-2 before getting replaced by Lukes.
“Does it feel a little bit weird to start Game 1 of the World Series with Schneid and Myles in there? Yeah,” Jays manager John Schneider said. “But that’s how we’re built. That’s how we’ve done it.”
The role players understand what Schneider expects from them. The Jays aren’t overly reliant on any one player, not even Vladimir Guerrero Jr., their superstar first baseman. All the pieces seem to fit, producing a symphony of contact and occasional crescendo of slug.
On Friday night, Guerrero and third baseman Ernie Clement both went 2-for-4 to increase their postseason batting averages to .447 and .435, respectively. Guerrero also drew a walk, but with so many of his teammates contributing, he was almost invisible.
The Jays still face a considerable challenge in this World Series. Rookie right-hander Trey Yesavage wasn’t sharp pitching on four days of rest for only the fifth time in 29 professional starts — and he would need to do the same thing in Game 5, if necessary. The Jays’ bullpen allowed only two runs in five innings in Game 1, but it’s hardly intimidating. And the Dodgers’ next three starting pitchers are righties Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani.
“New Monstar tomorrow,” Popkins said of Yamamoto, invoking the famous alien basketball team in the movie, Space Jam. “But today was a good one.”
And for those paying attention, anything but a surprise.