LOS ANGELES — After the long 32-year wait to return to Canada, the World Series shifts back to Los Angeles, where memories remain thick from its visit just one year ago.
All even at one game each, the Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers will duel to get the upper hand in the best-of-seven matchup when Game 3 arrives Monday night.
In Game 1 at Los Angeles last year, the Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman hit a game-ending grand slam against the New York Yankees on the way to becoming the first player to hit a home run in each of the first four games of a World Series.
A different kind of history is set to unfold in the opening inning Monday. Blue Jays right-hander Max Scherzer is set to become the first pitcher to take the mound for four different teams in the World Series.
After already appearing in a World Series for the Detroit Tigers (2012), Washington Nationals (2019), and Texas Rangers (2023), Scherzer is chasing his third career title. He will enter off a strong 5 2/3-inning start in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series when he helped the Blue Jays past the Seattle Mariners.
The outing came after he went 1-3 with a 9.00 ERA over his last six starts in the regular season.
“This is what you play for, to be able to get to this spot, to get to this moment, to have a shot at it,” said Scherzer, who is 1-1 with a 2.70 ERA in four postseason appearances (three starts) against the Dodgers. “… Just so fortunate to have another crack at this. There’s so many great players that have never gotten to a World Series.”
Scherzer pitched for the Dodgers in 2021, when they fell in the National League Championship Series to the Atlanta Braves. He was scratched from a scheduled start in a decisive Game 6 of the NLCS, saying his arm was “locked up.”
After the Blue Jays dominated Game 1 on Friday by scoring 11 runs, the Dodgers responded with Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s complete game in a 5-1 victory that evened the series.
Los Angeles is now 9-0 this postseason when a starter goes at least six innings.
“These guys aren’t going to go away. They’re very confident. It’s a very talented team,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of the Blue Jays. “(Offensively), you got to continue to tack on, you got to get to the pen, and you got to beat those guys up and keep building on innings.”
Los Angeles right-hander Tyler Glasnow will follow Yamamoto’s command performance with a start in Game 3. After going 4-3 with a 3.19 ERA in 18 regular-season starts, Glasnow has been impressive in the postseason.
Glasnow gave up one run over 5 2/3 innings of a Dodgers win in Game 3 of the NLCS against the Milwaukee Brewers and has a 0.68 ERA in three appearances (two starts) this postseason with 18 strikeouts over 13 1/3 innings.
“I’m trying to just go into it like it is any other game,” said Glasnow, a Los Angeles-area native. “Obviously, it’s the World Series for a hometown team, and it’s awesome. I think for me … simplify it in your workday and simplify it while you’re out there on the mound. I think a lot of the other stuff is just kind of noise.”
In 11 career regular-season starts against the Blue Jays, Glasnow is 1-4 with a 5.82 ERA, last facing them at home Aug. 10 when he allowed two runs with eight strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings of a no-decision.
After returning from a broken hand in the NL Division Series victory over the Philadelphia Phillies, the Dodgers’ Will Smith had his best game of the postseason when he hit a home run and had three RBIs in the Game 2 victory.
“I feel that we’re back into a little bit of a rhythm offensively that it should show itself here these next three games,” Roberts said.
Toronto infielder Bo Bichette, who has been dealing with a left knee issue since early September, is expected to make it back to the starting lineup in Game 3, playing second base, after pinch hitting in Game 2. A two-time All-Star at shortstop, Bichette went 1-for-2 with a walk in Game 1.
–Doug Padilla, Field Level Media
