Blue Jays 11, Dodgers 4 – World Series Game 1: A 9-spot in the 6th sinks Blake Snell & the pen

Chad Moriyama 10/24/2025 Game Recaps Leave A Comment

Being able to take Game 1 in any playoff series is key, and the Dodgers have been fortunate to take three of those in a row this year. Well they’re going to have to battle from behind in the World Series, as the Blue Jays made their mark with an explosion in the middle innings as they got to Blake Snell and the bullpen in an 11-4 blowout loss to kick things off.

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Getting the ball in Game 1 for the Blue Jays was Trey Yesavage, who had his professional debut earlier this year in A-ball, making this a truly insane rise to prominence.

He began ideally for the Jays, getting a 1-2-3 frame in the 1st that included a strikeout of Shohei Ohtani. That did not carry over to the 2nd, as he issued a lead-off walk to Will Smith, got him to exchange places with Teoscar at first on a groundout, but then gave up a single to Max Muncy to put a pair on. Enrique Hernandez followed by singling up the middle to plate the game’s first run in Teoscar. 1-0.

Tommy Edman followed, batting righty, and he had a swinging bunt to third that led to an infield single and loaded the bases. The Dodgers had a big chance there, and Andy Pages battled back from 0-2 to 3-2, but then chased a slider out of the zone for a strikeout. Ohtani then came up and got ahead 2-1, but then chased a slider down and grounded out to first to end the huge threat.

The 3rd was arguably worse for Yesavage, issuing back-to-back five-pitch walks to Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. He then got ahead of Will 0-2, but it was 3-2 when Dills grounded a single the other way to make it 2-0. Unfortunately, in a big play, Freddie made a baserunning error by trying for third and getting caught in a rundown and getting tagged out even if Will got to second.

Yesavage then got Teoscar to groundout on a nice play by Bo Bichette to save a run, and Muncy then struck out to limit the damage.

Yesavage then cruised through a clean nine-pitch 4th inning, and things could’ve been a lot worse given that he didn’t seem to have it at all.

Yesavage can't locate anything, true, but the Dodgers also aren't really hitting for shit. Missing tons of center-cut pitches.

— Chad Moriyama (@chadmoriyama.bsky.social) October 24, 2025 at 3:15 PM

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For the Dodgers, it was Blake Snell, who has been near flawless so far in his three postseason starts for the team.

Unfortunately, things didn’t start flawlessly in the 1st. He did get the first two outs on just five pitches, but then issued a seven-pitch walk on a full-count to Vladimir Guerrero Jr., got behind 3-0 to Bichette before giving up a single against the shift to corner things, and then gave up another full-count walk (this one on nine pitches) to Alejandro Kirk that loaded the bases. Fortunately, he did get ahead of Daulton Varsho and then got him to flyout to end that threat, but that took 29 pitches to do, which had to be seen as a win for them.

The 2nd started with an Ernie Clement bloop single on an 0-2 pitch, but Snell rebounded with back-to-back strikeouts. George Springer then hit a nubber to Freddie at first, and he couldn’t make a play at second, so he tried a jump throw to a covering Snell. However, Blake wasn’t able to find the bag, so that went for an infield single, but fortunately Clement tried for third and Blake threw him out there to escape the jam.

Snell faced the minimum in the 3rd, getting a strikeout to start, allowing a single to Vlad, but getting a double play to end the frame.

The 4th started with getting ahead 0-2 to Kirk, but he battled for an eight-pitch at-bat to single off the wall in the right-field corner. That was important because Snell threw a center-cut first-pitch fastball to Varsho, who didn’t miss it and homered to center to tie the game at 2-2.

Snell took just eight pitches to get the next three batters and end the inning, but obviously the damage was done. He came back in the 5th by giving up a lead-off single to Springer, but then faced the minimum thanks to a double play.

Things really went awry at this point.

The 6th started with a walk to Bichette on a full count (Isiah Kiner-Falefa pinch-ran for him), Kirk singled, and Snell hit Varsho with the ninth pitch of the at-bat to load the bases.

Bad time for arguably his worst start of the year: 5 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 3 BB, 4 K, 100 Pitches.

Emmet Sheehan then aimed to provide relief but did anything but, giving up a single to Clement for a run, walking pinch-hitter Nathan Lukes (for Myles Straw) to force another run home, and giving up a single to Andres Gimenez to make it 5-2 and close the book on Snell.

Sheehan did get one out when Springer grounded out to Mookie, who got a force at home.

That was it for him, as Anthony Banda entered for pinch-hitter Addison Barger (for Davis Schneider), and Barger blew the game open with a grand slam to make it 9-2.

A single from Vlad followed that, and after a flyout, Kirk stepped up and blasted another homer to make it 11-2 before Banda got the final out of the 6th.

A brutal nine spot.

Well, at least all the relievers that didn't get work the previous series can enter now, lmao.

— Chad Moriyama (@chadmoriyama.bsky.social) October 24, 2025 at 4:42 PM

In the 7th, it was Justin Wrobleski making his playoff debut with a clean frame. Will Klein followed in the 8th, giving up a one-out single but nothing else to close the book on their bats.

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Starting the 5th for the Blue Jays was Mason Fluharty, who struck out Ohtani looking at a ball below the zone, then gave up a single to Mookie, and Freddie just missed a homer for the second out. Fluharty did his job, and Seranthony Dominguez entered and completed the inning on just one pitch. He continued in the 6th ,and things were just as easy for him, as he got a couple of strikeouts and a flyout.

With a big lead, Braydon Fisher entered and issued a lead-off walk to Edman. After a strikeout followed, Shohei skied a homer to right for his first World Series homer to make it 11-4, though that was all they’d get.

Against Chris Bassitt in the 8th, he issued a one-out walk but nothing more. Eric Lauer got the 9th, issuing a two-out walk to Ohtani but nothing else.

Guess we’ll see.

The offense is a theme, but in terms of the pitching, the pen continues to be the concern for me.

The pen's performance is the real worry from this. Could barely get outs in leverage, much less escape jams. Snell wasn't sharp from the start and the Jays make a ton of quality contact, but you hope the BABIP against isn't .500 next time, basically.

— Chad Moriyama (@chadmoriyama.bsky.social) October 24, 2025 at 5:33 PM

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And so the World Series stands at 1-0 to the Blue Jays, and the Dodgers will have to fight from behind for the first time this postseason.

Same two teams, same place, and same time of 2:00 PM HT/5:00 PM PT/8:00 PM ET tomorrow on FOX. That matchup will be Yoshinobu Yamamoto looking to carry the momentum over from his last start against their ace in Kevin Gausman.

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