There will be a rematch within a rematch Tuesday night when the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers go for another series victory against the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Dodgers won the opener of the three-game set 14-2 on Monday for their fourth straight win and the Blue Jays’ fifth consecutive loss.
The middle encounter of the series will feature a rematch of the starters from Game 6, also in Toronto, of the 2025 World Series, won by the Dodgers in seven games.
Toronto is scheduled to start Kevin Gausman (0-0, 0.75 ERA), while Los Angeles will start fellow right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto (1-1, 3.00).
Yamamoto earned the decision over Gausman last Oct. 31 in the World Series by allowing one run, five hits and one walk while striking out six in six innings. Gausman allowed three runs, three hits and two walks and struck out eight in six innings.
Yamamoto, who pitched a four-hit complete game in winning Game 2 of the Series, also tossed 2 2/3 innings of relief in Game 7 to earn his third win of the set. He was named World Series MVP.
The realization of what he was doing by following a start with a relief appearance the next day did not strike him until he started to warm up.
“To be honest, I wasn’t thinking about it until the moment I got up to the mound,” Yamamoto said before the game on Monday. “But as I was getting warmed up in the bullpen, it started getting real.”
Yamamoto has not faced Toronto in the regular season while Gausman is 2-3 with a 3.57 ERA in nine career regular-season games (eight starts) against the Dodgers.
The series opener on Monday had none of the drama that made the 2025 World Series a classic.
The Dodgers outhit the Blue Jays 17-5 and had two homers from Dalton Rushing and one each from Teoscar Hernandez, Freddie Freeman and Shohei Ohtani. Rushing reached base five times with four hits and a hit by pitch.
Both teams had position players pitch the ninth inning.
The Blue Jays have been working through injuries, and there was another issue on Monday when starting pitcher Max Scherzer left the game after allowing two runs in two innings. Manager John Schneider said the right-hander has been dealing with tendinitis in his right forearm but remained “fairly confident” that he could make his next start.·
“I don’t think it’s a major issue, just something that needs to be addressed,” Scherzer said. “My mind is that I’m going to be making my next start.”
Josh Fleming, promoted from Triple-A Buffalo on Monday, replaced him and allowed four runs in three innings. Austin Voth, who pitched in relief on Sunday, was designated for assignment to make room for Fleming.
The Toronto crowd booed when the lineups were announced before the game.
Dodgers starter Justin Wrobleski made four World Series appearances, including Game 7 when he hit Andres Gimenez with a pitch. He said he expected an unfavorable reception.
“Obviously, you don’t ever want to be booed, but in this scenario it’s OK,” he said. “They wouldn’t boo me if they didn’t know who I was. It was fun. They care about baseball here. It was a fun environment. I think if people weren’t a little upset and a little — I don’t know — passionate about what happened last year in the World Series, maybe they’re not real fans.”
Wrobleski allowed one run and two hits over five innings on Monday.
–Field Level Media
