TORONTO (KABC) — The Los Angeles Dodgers lost to the Blue Jays 11-4 in a rough Game 1 of the World Series at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.
Addison Barger launched the first pinch-hit grand slam in World Series history, Alejandro Kirk added a two-run homer in a nine-run sixth inning and the Toronto Blue Jays overwhelmed the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers 11-4 in the opener Friday night.
Daulton Varsho started Toronto’s comeback from a 2-0 deficit with a two-run drive in the fourth off two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell.
The longball barrage was fitting as the Fall Classic returned to Toronto for the first time since 1993, when Joe Carter hit only the second walk-off homer to end a World Series. And in an unusual tie to that night 32 years ago, Varsho is named after Darren Daulton, the Philadelphia Phillies catcher Mitch Williams was throwing to when Carter connected.
Shohei Ohtani hit his first Series home run for the heavily favored Dodgers, seeking to become the first repeat champion since the New York Yankees took three titles in a row from 1998-2000. Los Angeles was trailing by nine when he connected off Braydon Fisher for a two-run shot in the seventh, his fourth homer in two games.
Fans angry that Ohtani spurned the Blue Jays to sign a $700 million contract with the Dodgers in December 2023 chanted: “We don’t need you!” when he came to the plate in the ninth.
Game 2 in the best-of-seven series is at Rogers Centre on Saturday night.
Although Dodgers fans get lost in the sea of Blue Jays fans in Toronto, they still showed up to support the boys in blue!
Playing after a one-week layoff following its National League Championship Series sweep, Los Angeles took a 2-0 lead against 22-year-old rookie Trey Yesavage on RBI singles by Kiké Hernández in the second and Will Smith in the third.
Yesavage made his fourth postseason start – one more than his regular-season career total. At 22 years, 88 days old he became the second-youngest pitcher to start a World Series opener behind Brooklyn’s Ralph Branca at 21 years, 267 days in 1947 at Yankee Stadium.
Yesavage made some key pitches during his four innings, leaving the bases loaded in the second by retiring Ohtani on a groundout and stranding a runner at third the next inning when he struck out Max Muncy.
Seranthony DomÃnguez got the win with 1 1/3 hitless innings.
Varsho’s homer was the first off Snell by a left-handed hitter since Juan Soto connected for the New York Yankees on June 2 last year. Snell gave up a career-high five hits on changeups and allowed five runs, eight hits and three walks in five-plus innings.
Snell pitched in the Series for the first time since 2020 with Tampa Bay, when he was removed in the sixth inning of Game 6 while pitching a shutout against the Dodgers. Los Angeles rallied against the Rays’ bullpen for its first championship since 1988.
Now the Dodgers are seeking their third title in six years.
Coming off a seven-game ALCS against Seattle that ended Monday, Toronto got 14 hits that included key contributions from Bo Bichette and Varsho, who combined with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to become the first trio of sons of former major leaguers to start for one team in a Series game.
Returning from a sprained left knee that had sidelined him since Sept. 6, Bichette played second base for the first time in six years and favored the knee. He singled in the first, ranged to the left side of the infield to field a grounder and save a run, then with the score 2-2 drew a full-count walk from Snell starting the sixth.
Twelve batters went to the plate in the inning. Ernie Clement singled off reliever Emmet Sheehan for a 3-2 lead, pinch-hitter Nathan Lukes drew a bases-loaded walk and Andrés Giménez added an RBI single.
Barger greeted Anthony Banda with a 413-foot drive to right-center on a hanging slider to put Toronto ahead 9-2. Kirk, who singled off the right-field wall a pitch before Varsho’s homer, added his fourth home run of the postseason.
Up next
Dodgers RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Blue Jays RHP Kevin Gausman start Saturday night. Yamamoto won Game 2 of the Series last year, allowing one run and one hit over 6 1/3 innings in a 4-2 victory over the Yankees and is coming off the first postseason complete game in eight years, a three-hitter against the Milwaukee Brewers. Gausman will be making his Series debut.
If you weren’t lucky enough to score a ticket to the game, here are some great places to watch the Boys in Blue, recommended by ABC7 staff.
Stay with Eyewitness News all day as Rob Fukuzaki, Tony Cabrera and Marc Cota-Robles bring us the latest from Toronto.
Dodger fans — including some Canadians — outside Rogers Centre in Toronto were set to root for the Boys in Blue in Game 1 of the World Series against the Blue Jays.
On Thursday, the Dodgers announced that pitcher Alex Vesia was stepping away from the team due to a “deeply personal family matter.”
Los Angeles is the first defending champion to reach the World Series since the 2009 Philadelphia Phillies, who lost to the New York Yankees. No team has won consecutive titles since three in a row by the 1998-2000 Yankees, and no NL team has achieved the feat since Cincinnati’s Big Red Machine in 1975-76.
“The one thing we cannot do is look over there and say that is Goliath,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “That is a beatable baseball team that has its flaws, and that has its really, really good strengths. How we expose each of them will determine who wins the series.”
“Just to win once is hard, and now be this close to being able to do it two times in a row, I don’t know if I’ve really grasped the weight of it,” Freeman said. “Last week, you’re starting to get the word ‘dynasty’ thrown out and things of that nature, and if that, if that’s being thrown out, that means the organization’s doing a really, really good job.”
Dodger fans in Canada
Hours before the scheduled start of World Series Game 1 on Friday, Dodger fans — including some Canadians — outside the Rogers Centre in Toronto expressed optimism about the Boys in Blue repeating as world champions.
Canadian Dodger fan Joshua Mirecki told ABC7 he was “proud to be out here and support L.A. Blake (Snell’s) going to do an amazing job, going to give it his all, and I’m so happy to be here.”
Rubi Lopez said she was “so excited, it’s been on my bucket list, I can’t wait to see the Boys in Blue. I haven’t seen them here, it’s my first time, and I just … I’m waiting for another World Series ring, back-to-back.”
Been a long time
When the World Series was last played outside of the United States, Toronto won its second straight title in 1993 when Joe Carter hit a ninth-inning homer off Philadelphia’s Mitch Williams in Game 6, the second Series-ending home run after Pittsburgh’s Bill Mazeroski against the New York Yankees in Game 7 in 1960.
Since then, the Blue Jays became Canada’s sole Major League Baseball team when the Montreal Expos moved to Washington, D.C., for the 2005 season.
Toronto’s home was renamed from the SkyDome to Rogers Centre in 2005, a year after Rogers Communications Inc. became the Blue Jays’ sole owner. The ballpark’s capacity was cut from 52,000 to just under 45,000, and more upgrades are planned ahead of 2026.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney attended the Blue Jays’ batting practice.
“We represent this entire country and we’re this country’s team, so we want to go out there and do everything we can to make this country proud of us,” said Trey Yesavage, the 22-year-old who opens the Series on the mound for Toronto in just his seventh big league start.
Rust vs. rest history appears to show off time is disadvantage
Since the League Championship Series was extended to seven games in 1985, the four matchups between teams coming off seven-game series and four-game sweeps all were won by the teams who played the lengthier pennant playoffs: the 1988 Dodgers over Oakland, the 2006 St. Louis Cardinals against Detroit, the 2007 Boston Red Sox over Colorado and 2012 San Francisco Giants against the Tigers.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2025 KABC Television, LLC. All rights reserved.