The Toronto Blue Jays are one win away from being crowned World Series champions for the first time in 32 years following a crushing 6-1 win against the Los Angeles Dodgers in game five at Dodgers Stadium.
Toronto have had all the momentum after the Dodgers claimed the 18-innings game three epic, winning back-to-back matches to take a 3-2 lead home to Toronto with them after three straight matches in Los Angeles.
Pitcher Trey Yesavage’s historic performance was largely to thank for the Blue Jays gaining the upper hand in the series, as he capitalised on the momentum generated by Toronto’s lead off batters.
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Davis Schneider smacked a home run from the first pitch of the game, launching Blake Snell over the left field fence in a dream start to the crunch clash for the visitors.
Two pitches later, the Blue Jays made history as Vladimir Guerrero Jr also launched a home run into the crowd in the same section of Dodgers Stadium, silencing the home fans and becoming the first team to ever lead off a World Series game with back-to-back home runs in the process.
Yesavage then when to work when he stepped up to the mound.
The 22-year-old, who started this season playing minor league baseball and was only promoted to the MLB last month, set a new World Series record for most strikeouts in a game by a rookie with 12, including striking out Shohei Ohtani to end the third inning.
He also became the first rookie in MLB history to produce multiple games with 10 or more strike outs in the postseason, having had 11 against the New York Yankees in game two of the American League Division Series.
He also is just the third pitcher to strikeout all nine starting batters in a World Series game, while it was only the 11th time ever a pitcher has had a dozen or more strikeouts in a World Series contest.
The Dodgers’ batters swung and missed at 23 of his pitches, the most in a World Series match since tracking began 17 years ago.
He also gave away zero walks.
“It’s a crazy world,” Yesavage said. “Crazy world. Hollywood couldn’t have made it this good. So just being a part of this, I’m just very blessed.”
The Dodgers on the other hand made unwanted history on the mound.
They threw three wild pitches that did not make it to home plate on the full, two via Snell and one by his replacement Edgardo Henríquez, in the seventh inning alone, when the Blue Jays added two more runs to their tally.
The Dodgers were just the third team in World Series history to throw that many wild pitches in a game, and the first to do so in a single inning.
After a night in the dirt, the Dodgers with their $538 million payroll now must win two games in a row on the road to become back-to-back World Series champions.