The Toronto Blue Jays are one win away from hoisting their first World Series trophy since 1993, but one of baseball’s best pitchers stands in their way.
Los Angeles Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto will start Game 6 on Friday night, and he has never been in better form. The 27-year-old is coming off two consecutive complete games, allowing just one run in each of them.
Yamamoto is the first player to toss two straight complete games in the postseason since Curt Schilling accomplished the feat in 2001 for the Arizona Diamondbacks, via Talkin’ Baseball. The right-hander also has a 1.57 playoff ERA this season.
However, Blue Jays manager John Schneider is confident entering the matchup, via Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi.
“It’s always easier when you actually see a guy and feel what his stuff is playing like and what it does in comparison to other guys you’ve faced,” he said. “The delivery is a little unique, obviously, and there’s some deception there, but it comes down to putting together a good plan and seeing how he’s going to attack. Is it going to be the same way, which he had a lot of success with? Or is he going to deviate a little bit, and can we be ready to pivot with him?”
Yamamoto last pitched in Game 2 of the World Series against Toronto, notching eight strikeouts against four hits and no walks over his nine-inning masterpiece. But Schneider thinks his squad can get to the 5-foot-10, 176-pounder now that the hitters are more familiar with him.
Blue Jays Will Try to Imitate Success Against Blake Snell
Before Toronto lost 5-1 in Game 2, it scored five runs across five innings against Los Angeles southpaw Blake Snell during an 11-4 Game 1 victory. The Blue Jays then shelled Snell again on Wednesday, scoring five runs on him over 6 2/3 frames in a 6-1 Game 5 win.
The Blue Jays could stay hot against Yamamoto this time, but he hasn’t allowed more than three runs in a start since June 13. At the same time, there’s evidence backing up Schneider’s claim.
Yamamoto is only in his second season and had never faced Toronto before Game 2. Conversely, Snell entered MLB in 2016 and pitched against the Blue Jays on Aug. 9, so the Blue Jays’ hitters have had plenty of time to study him.
That doesn’t guarantee that they’ll break Yamamoto’s hot streak, but they won’t need to if Toronto ace Kevin Gausman excels. If the game is a pitcher’s duel, it will come down to one or two clutch situations.
The contest will start at 8 p.m. ET on Fox and will be played in Toronto’s Rogers Centre.