TORONTO (AP) \u2014 A day before playing for a World Series title, Davis Schneider went barefoot in the park. Toronto\u2026<\/p>\n
TORONTO (AP) \u2014 A day before playing for a World Series title, Davis Schneider went barefoot in the park.<\/p>\n
Toronto players arrived at Rogers Centre at about 8 a.m. Thursday after a red-eye flight from Los Angeles that followed their 6-1 win over the Dodgers<\/a>. By late afternoon, Schneider was ambling about the nearly empty ballpark, which will be filled to capacity Friday night with fans hungering to witness Toronto\u2019s first title since 1993. He wore a tank top and ski cap, with no shoes.<\/p>\n \u201cWalking around the outfield, get a feel of the grass, or turf I should say,\u201d he explained. \u201cI try to do that every single day, just walk around and get my body going.\u201d<\/p>\n Schneider\u2019s home run on Blake Snell\u2019s first pitch launched Toronto to Wednesday\u2019s victory that gave it a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven matchup. While for Games 1 and 2 last week Schneider had one of the 55 rooms with a view of the field at the Toronto Marriott City Centre Hotel, he was given regular lodging when he checked back in.<\/p>\n Addison Barger, the teammate who slept on Schneider\u2019s sofa bed during the first leg, didn\u2019t remain his roomie this weekend.<\/p>\n \u201cHe has the money to get his own room,\u201d Schneider quipped. \u201cHe could have stayed, but he didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n Heavily favored Los Angeles is seeking to become the first team to win back-to-back titles since the 1998-2000 New York Yankees won three in a row. Yoshinobu Yamamoto will start Friday for the Dodgers and Kevin Gausman for the Blue Jays in a rematch of Game 2.<\/p>\n Blue Jays designated hitter George Springer appeared set to return<\/a> for the first time since hurting his right side while swinging in Game 3<\/a>.<\/p>\n Yamamoto pitched a four-hitter<\/a> for the first World Series complete game since 2015 and has thrown the first consecutive postseason complete games since Curt Schilling tossed three in a row in 2001. <\/p>\n \u201cIt did give me a certain level of confidence, but now my mind is reset and then just focusing on the new game,\u201d Yamamoto said through an interpreter.<\/p>\n Gausman matched him until the seventh inning, when Will Smith and Max Muncy hit solo homers for a 3-1 lead.<\/p>\n \u201cRogers Centre is going to be fun. It\u2019s going to be electric,\u201d Gausman said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be everything that it has been for the last month and probably more.\u201d<\/p>\n Toronto had three days off after a seven-game American League Championship Series win over Seattle<\/a> and the Dodgers six days off after sweeping Milwaukee for the National League pennant.<\/a><\/p>\n Since the LCS expanded to best-of-seven in 1985, all four prior teams advancing from seven-game LCS defeated pennant winners who emerged from sweeps: the 1988 Dodgers (two days off) against Oakland (five), the 2006 St. Louis Cardinals (one) vs. Detroit (six), the 2007 Boston Red Sox (two) against Colorado (eight) and the 2012 San Francisco Giants (one) against the Tigers (five).<\/p>\n Manager Dave Roberts wouldn\u2019t say the layoff caused a hitting slump.<\/p>\n \u201cEven if it was, I wouldn\u2019t say it was,\u201d he said with a smile.<\/p>\n After three games at sunny Dodger Stadium, where the game-time temperature Wednesday was 86 degrees Fahrenheit (30 Celsius), the Series moved back to Toronto, a city framed by tree leaves that had turned to autumn red, orange and yellow. The roof was closed for Thursday\u2019s workout \u2014 it was raining outside with a 46-degree temperature (7 Celsius).<\/p>\n Blue Jays manager John Schneider watched \u201cDen of Thieves\u201d on the flight, drank a beer, then hopped into the cold tub by the Blue Jays clubhouse.<\/p>\n \u201cA little cold plunge to kind of get you going a little bit,\u201d he said. \u201cIt didn\u2019t work.\u201d<\/p>\n Shohei Ohtani will try to shake off a cold bat. After reaching base nine times in Game 3 on four extra-base hits and five walks, he was 0 for 7 with a walk in the Dodgers\u2019 last two losses.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re locating better and kind of giving him different looks, different pitch types, different velocities, different locations,\u201d John Schneider said.<\/p>\n Dodgers players arrived about 7 a.m. while staff stayed in LA overnight and traveled Thursday. Roberts said while Thursday\u2019s workout was voluntary, every player attended.<\/p>\n With his team hitting .201 against the Blue Jays, Roberts is considering more lineup changes. He dropped Mookie Betts to third in the batting order in Game 5 and benched center fielder Andy Pages.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m contemplating, but I\u2019m still kind of up in the air,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n